How should minimum requirements be addressed for products and how should they be implemented. In this session different approaches to minimum requirements will be discussed. Representatives from the EU Commission and from industry will present approaches to minimum requirements in the coming EU-directive and in the German legislation. Furthermore the CA view on minimum requirements will be given. Minimum requirements may encourage the courts to accept digital signatures as equivalents to conventional signatures, at least in areas where no specific legal form is prescribed.
Common requirements can provide for legal recognition in cross-border communication.
However, the legal concepts behind signatures, formal requirements and procedures are different in each of the Member States' jurisdictions. Rules of evidence and formal requirements that cannot be met by electronic documents form a potential danger to the development of electronic commerce and electronic communication. Solutions must be found to ensure a common level of legal recognition for cross-border communication. Evidence rules Some legal systems do not accept electronic documents as evidence in legal proceedings, even if they are digitally signed, because written evidence is required if the value of the disputed issue, for instance a selling contract, is beyond a certain limit. Such restrictions will be a barrier to digital signatures and electronic commerce in general.