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Digital trust, a structural layer of the European digital economy
For several decades, Europe has been working to build and consolidate its single market by removing barriers to the free movement of goods, services, capital, and people.
However, in the era of digital transformation, one fundamental element has long been missing: a common digital trust infrastructure that is enforceable, interoperable, and based on harmonized IT security standards.
The digital trust infrastructure, driven mainly by the eIDAS regulatory framework and further strengthened by eIDAS 2, responds precisely to this need. It establishes the legal, technical, organizational,and cybersecurity foundations necessary to ensure that digital interactions offer the same level of reliability, confidentiality, integrity of digital transactions, and legal certainty as their physical counterparts.
In concrete terms, this infrastructure ensures that signing a contract online, verifying an identity remotely, or exchanging documents electronically can be recognized, accepted,and enforced, regardless of borders, jurisdictions, or time. It thus enables businesses and administrations to fully commit to the dematerialization of their processes without compromising data protection, regulatory compliance, or the probative value of exchanges.
This is not just a technological issue. Digital trust is now establishing itself as a critical economic infrastructure, on a par with payment systems, transport networks, and energy infrastructure. Without it,the European digital economy would remain fragmented, less efficient, and structurally disadvantaged in the face of global competition, particularly in a context of growing cyber threats and increased dependence on digital platforms.
Digital trust infrastructure and the European single market
The European single market is based on a fundamental principle: mutual recognition. A product that is legally marketed in one Member State can circulate freely in others, professional qualifications are recognized across borders, and companies can operate on a European scale without having to relocate locally.
The digital trust infrastructure applies this principle to digital identities, electronic transactions, and dematerialized legal acts, providing a common framework for cybersecurity, compliance, and legal recognition.
Thanks to the eIDAS framework, Europe now has harmonized rules for electronic identification and trust services, including electronic signatures and seals, time stamps, electronic registered delivery services, and long-term electronic archiving. When provided at a qualified level, these services benefit from automatic legal recognition in all Member States, based on high standards of IT security and data protection.
The impact on the functioning of the single market is considerable:
- A contract signed electronically in one Member State can be executed in another without additional formalities.
- Businesses can integrate customers and partners across borders through reliable, secure, and compliant digital identification.
- Public administrations can interact electronically with businesses established in other EU countries within a legally secure framework.
By removing the legal uncertainty that previously surrounded cross-border digital interactions, the digital trust infrastructure removes one of the last major obstacles to the full functioning of the single market. It thus transforms a regulatory framework into an operational digital reality, serving European competitiveness and accelerating digital transformation.
Digital trust, a driver of cross-border trade beyond the European Union
The scope of the European digital trust infrastructure extends far beyond the borders of the European Union.
Over the last decade, the EU has established itself as a leading player in digital regulatory standardization. Mirroring the global influence of the GDPR in data protection and privacy, the European digital trust framework is now shaping the design, security, and international recognition of identity and trust services.
Many countries and regions outside the EU have chosen to align themselves, formally or gradually, with European principles of digital trust and cybersecurity.
This alignment generates concrete benefits for European companies engaged in international trade:
- Electronic contracts and signatures based on European trust services are more easily recognized in certain partner jurisdictions.
- Cross-border customer onboarding and identity verification processes are simplified, accelerated, and more secure.
- The legal certainty and integrity of international digital transactions are strengthened, reducing the risk of litigation and associated costs.
In some cases, this alignment is formalized through trade agreements, digital partnerships, or institutional cooperation. In others, it results from the gradual adoption of European-inspired models aimed at facilitating access to the European market or benefiting from its regulatory credibility in terms of security and trust.
This has led to the emergence of an expanded area of trust interoperability, within which European companies can operate internationally with a higher level of reliability and predictability. For exporters, manufacturers, and service providers, this translates into shorter negotiation cycles, reduced operating costs, and better risk control in global trade.
Digital trust infrastructure and European economic sovereignty
Data sovereignty and strategic autonomy
Beyond operational efficiency and cross-border trade, the digital trust infrastructure is a central pillar of European sovereignty in terms of data, cybersecurity, and strategic autonomy.
Digital trust relies on some of the most sensitive assets in the digital economy: identity data, means of authentication, cryptographic keys, electronic signatures, time stamps, and transaction evidence. Control over these assets confers decisive power over the validation, governance, and, where applicable, contestation of digital economic activities.
For European companies, relying on non-European providers for critical trust services can create structural risks. Even when data is hosted in the European Union, providers headquartered outside Europe may be subject to extraterritorial legislation, conflicting disclosure requirements, or governance models that are incompatible with European requirements for confidentiality, data protection, and legal certainty.
It is in this context that the European approach to digital trust, based on eIDAS and implemented by qualified trust service providers from the European ecosystem, takes on its full strategic dimension. These actors operate exclusively within the framework of European law, under the supervision of the competent authorities, and meet high requirements in terms of cybersecurity, IT security standards, auditability, and accountability.
Relying on European players in the trust value chain is neither a defensive strategy nor digital protectionism. It is a proactive industrial strategy, aimed at ensuring that critical trust functions remain under European jurisdiction, while being designed to be open, interoperable, and compatible with international trade.
The European experience also shows that regulation and innovation are not mutually exclusive. On the contrary, clear rules, harmonized standards, and predictable supervision reduce systemic risks, enhance the security of digital transactions, and encourage investment in cutting-edge technologies.
In recent years, European trust actors have thus evolved their offerings from isolated signature services to true digital transaction management platforms, integrating advanced identity verification mechanisms, cloud-native architectures, and open API-based ecosystems, while complying with a demanding regulatory framework.
This combination of regulatory requirements, cybersecurity, and technological innovation is one of Europe’s distinctive strengths. It enables the European Union to remain competitive on a global scale, not by lowering its standards, but by exporting trust: secure, legally robust digital interactions that respect fundamental rights.
What are the prospects for digital trust?
Digital trust infrastructure is gradually establishing itself as one of Europe’s most strategic, albeit often invisible, assets. It supports the single market, strengthens the European Union’s position in international trade, and provides an essential foundation for future digital growth.
However, infrastructure only creates value if it is actually adopted. For European companies, the challenge is no longer just to recognize the strategic importance of digital trust, but to concretely integrate trust solutions that comply with European standards into their business processes.
Opting for European solutions to secure digital transactions—identity verification, document collection and control, electronic signatures, electronic archiving, etc. means relying on players that are fully aligned with European law, supervised by the competent authorities, and capable of demonstrating that innovation can thrive within a robust regulatory framework!
A solution such as Signaturit 360 embodies this European trust architecture by translating it into concrete operational capabilities: accelerated onboarding, end-to-end secure transactions, confidentiality, integrity of exchanges, legal robustness, cross-border scalability, and compliance by design.
By integrating European trust solutions at the heart of their processes, companies are not just optimizing their operations. They are actively participating in strengthening European digital sovereignty, consolidating the digital single market, and enhancing their own global competitiveness, based on trust, reliability, and legal certainty.
The message to European companies is clear: digital trust is no longer just a technical prerequisite, it is a strategic choice.
Adopting European trust solutions today means building tomorrow’s growth on solid, interoperable foundations that are aligned with European values.
Digital trust is not just the foundation of Europe’s digital future.
It is a call to action, starting now!
