2000/709/EC: Commission Decision of 6 November 2000 on the minimum criteria to be taken into account by Member States when designating bodies in accordance with Article 3(4) of Directive 1999/93/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on a Community framework for electronic signatures (notified under document number C(2000) 3179) (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2000-11-06
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU Member State, drafting of EU law, electronic mail, legal status, liability, supervisory power

L 289/42

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

16.11.2000

COMMISSION DECISION

of 6 November 2000

on the minimum criteria to be taken into account by Member States when designating bodies in
accordance with Article 3(4) of Directive 1999/93/EC of the European Parliament and of the
Council on a Community framework for electronic signatures

(notified under document number C(2000) 3179)

(Text with EEA relevance)

(2000/709/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Directive 1999/93/EC of the European Parlia-
ment and of
the Council of 13 December 1999 on a
Community framework for electronic signatures (1), and in
particular Article 3(4) thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

On 13 December 1999, the European Parliament and
the Council adopted the Directive 1999/93/EC on a
Community framework for electronic signatures.

Annex III to Directive 1999/93/EC contains the require-
ments for secure signature-creation-devices. According
to Article 3(4) of the Directive, the conformity of secure
signature-creation-devices with the requirements laid
down in Annex III shall be determined by appropriate
public or private bodies designated by Member States
and the Commission shall establish criteria for Member
States to determine whether a body should be designated
for performing such conformity assessments.

The establishment of the above criteria by the Commis-
sion has to be made after consultation of the ‘Electronic
Signature Committee’ set up under Article 9(1) of
Directive 1999/93/EC.

The measures provided for in this Decision are in
accordance with the opinion of the ‘Electronic Signature
Committee’,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

The purpose of this Decision is to establish the criteria for
Member States to determine whether a national body should be
designated as responsible for the conformity assessments of
secure signature-creation-devices.

Article 2

Where a designated body is part of an organisation involved in
activities other than conformance assessment of secure signa-
laid down in
ture-creation-devices with the requirements

(1) OJ L 13, 19.1.2000, p. 12.

to Directive 1999/93/EC it must be identifiable
Annex III
within that organisation. Different activities must be clearly
distinguished.

Article 3

The body and its staff must not engage in any activities that
may conflict with their independence of judgement and integ-
rity in relation to their task. In particular, the body must be
independent of the parties involved. Therefore, the body, its
executive officer and the staff responsible for carrying out the
conformance assessment tasks must not be a designer, manu-
installer of secure signature-creation-
facturer, supplier or
devices, or a certification service provider issuing certificates to
the public, nor the authorised representative of any of such
parties.

In addition, they must be financially independent and not
become directly involved in the design, construction, marketing
or maintenance of secure signature-creation-devices, nor repre-
sent
the parties engaged in these activities. This does not
preclude the possibility of exchange of technical information
between the manufacturer and the designated body.

Article 4

The body and its personnel must be able to determine the
conformity of
signature-creation-devices with the
requirements laid down in Annex III to Directive 1999/93/EC
integrity, reliability and
with a high degree of professional
sufficient technical competence.

secure

Article 5

The body shall be transparent in its conformity assessment
practices and shall record all relevant information concerning
these practices. All interested parties must have access to the
services of the body. The procedures under which the body
operates must be administered in a non-discriminatory manner.

Article 6

The body must have at its disposal the necessary staff and
facilities to enable it to perform properly and swiftly the tech-
nical and administrative work associated with the task for
which it has been designated.

16.11.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 289/43

Article 7

The personnel responsible for conformity assessment must
have:
— sound technical and vocational training, particularly in the
field of electronic signature technologies and the related IT
security aspects,

— satisfactory

knowledge of

the
conformity assessments they carry out and adequate experi-
ence to carry out such assessments.

requirements of

the

Article 8

The impartiality of staff shall be guaranteed. Their remu-
neration shall not depend on the number of conformity assess-
ments carried out nor on the results of such conformity assess-
ments.

Article 9

The body must have adequate arrangements to cover liabilities
arising from its activities, for example, by obtaining appro-
priate insurance.

Article 10

The body must have adequate arrangements to ensure the
confidentiality of the information obtained in carrying out its
tasks under Directive 1999/93/EC or any provision of national

law giving effect thereto, except vis-a-vis the competent author-
ities of the designating Member State.

Article 11

Where a designated body arranges for the carrying out of a
part of the conformity assessments by another party, it must
ensure and be able to demonstrate that this party is competent
to perform the service in question. The designated body must
take full responsibility for the work carried out under those
arrangements. The final decision remains with the designated
body.

Article 12

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Done at Brussels, 6 November 2000.

For the Commission

Erkki LIIKANEN

Member of the Commission