European QES are recognized in Ukraine
Legal status
On January 1, 2023, qualified electronic signatures and seals created in the European Union (hereinafter referred to as "EU qualified electronic signatures/ EU QES") are recognized as fully meeting the requirements of Ukrainian legislation and are equivalent to their Ukrainian counterparts. This means that EU QЕS can be used without hindrance, and documents with such signatures are equivalent to documents signed with one's own signature
Recognition of EU QES is an intermediate step of Ukraine that precedes the expected mutual recognition of Ukrainian and European QES, on which the Government is working together with the European Commission. If the mutual recognition is approved, Ukrainian QES will also receive full legal recognition in the EU in the future.
It is already possible to validate EU QES now using the official CCA site at the link: https://czo.gov.ua/verify.
In the Diia mobile application, Diia.Signature-EU was recently introduced - a signature that fully complies with the international technical standards implemented in the EU. On the territory of the EU, this signature has the status of an advanced electronic signature (Advanced Electronic Signature), and after mutual recognition, it will also be qualified, like EU QES. However, this signature can and should be used today, because a document signed with such a signature will have legal force in the EU and must be accepted for consideration by all state bodies and courts, and in Ukraine it has a presumption of conformity with a handwritten signature.
You can already sign documents with Diia.Signature-EU using the signature creation tool on the official website of the CCA at the link: https://czo.gov.ua/sign.
Usage of EU QES in Ukraine
Both foreigners and Ukrainians who have received the relevant certificates from one of the European Trust Services Providers included in the EU Trusted List can use EU QES. There are several scenarios of signing documents by the EU QES, in each of which such a document will be equivalent to a handwritten one under Ukrainian legislation.
Firstly, documents, signed with EU QTS such as application, appeal, commercial offer, invoice, and others, can be validated on the CCA website at the link https://czo.gov.ua/verify. If the validation result confirmed the qualified type of signature, and integrity of the document content, you have a statement or appeal equivalent to those signed by the Ukrainian QES.
Secondly, the EU QES can be used to sign bilateral and multilateral documents, such as contracts, protocols, memoranda, acts of completed works, additional agreements, etc. At the same time, such a document will be equivalent to a handwritten one in the case when one of its parties uses the EU QES, and the other – Ukrainian QES (for example, Diia.Signature-EU), but also when all parties have EU QES. The European side, having signed the document in the EU, can transfer the document to the Ukrainian side, which can check the document on the CCA website and impose the Ukrainian international QES or Diia.Signature-EU via the link: https://czo.gov.ua/sign
Examples
First of all, Ukrainian enterprises that cooperate with European partners can now sign contracts, acts, invoices and other accompanying documentation in electronic form using Ukrainian QES, and their partners - European ones. For this, you can use Diia.Signature-EU or contact another trust services provider in Ukraine to obtain a QES that meets EU requirements. In Ukraine, such a document is considered equivalent to a handwritten one and must be accepted by state bodies, banks and other persons. As for its status in the EU, your European partners should know that Ukrainian QES in their country will not have the status of a qualified, but an Advanced Electronic Signature. However, it will be legally binding, ensure the integrity of the document, time stamp and confirm the identity of the signatories, but will not have a presumption of authenticity. Such a signature also has the force of proof in European courts, which is perhaps the most important in private legal relations.
In addition, the recognition of European QES can be useful for Ukrainian enterprises and organizations in which citizens of EU member states are employed, in particular if foreign citizens are the chief officers of Ukrainian companies. From now on, such persons will be able to use their European certificates in the day-to-day activities of the enterprise - to sign various documents, including personnel (applications, orders, vacation schedules, etc).
We would like to remind you that during the period of martial law, the use of electronic documents in the field of labor relations was liberalized as much as possible - giving the employer and the employee the opportunity to determine the most convenient format for exchanging documents and data, both with the use of qualified trust services and without them. Corresponding changes also provide that long-term (more than 10 years) storage documents do not need to be duplicated in paper form during this period.