E-CoC Digital Signing

You need a Qualified Electronic Seal (QESeal) issued by a Qualified Trust Service Provider (QTSP) listed on the EU Trusted List under eIDAS Regulation (EU) No 910/2014. Specifically, the seal must produce signatures in XAdES format per ETSI EN 319 132-1, compatible with the IVI v2.0 XML document structure. Advanced electronic seals are permitted under the regulation, but qualified seals are confirmed as meeting requirements by national authorities including RDW Netherlands.

Yes. Manufacturers headquartered outside the EU, including those based in Japan, South Korea, the United States, China, or anywhere else, can obtain a qualified eSeal through Digidentity. No EU entity, EU subsidiary, or EU address is required. The E-CoC regulation applies to any manufacturer selling vehicles in EU markets, regardless of where the manufacturer is based.

Yes. Digidentity's qualified electronic seals have been confirmed by RDW Netherlands as meeting the requirements for E-CoC digital signing. RDW is the Dutch Vehicle Authority and one of the leading National Access Points rolling out Version 2 E-CoC standards. Under eIDAS, a qualified seal from any EU-listed QTSP carries legal equivalence in all 27 EU member states, so a single certificate provides full EU coverage.

Integration is via the standard Cloud Signature Consortium (CSC) API. Your IT team connects your existing IVI XML generation system to Digidentity's signing service. The API is standards-based and well-documented, with SDKs and technical support available. Most manufacturers complete a working integration within a few weeks. Digidentity provides dedicated technical onboarding for E-CoC workflows.

The legal deadline is 5 July 2026, set out in EU Regulation 2024/1061, which implements the digital signing requirements of Regulation (EU) 2018/858. From this date, paper Certificates of Conformity are no longer sufficient for vehicle registration across the EU. The rollout is being led by RDW (Netherlands) and KBA (Germany), but the legal requirement applies EU-wide from day one. Manufacturers should integrate well ahead of this date, implementation takes time.

The requirement applies to a broad range of vehicle categories under EU Regulation 2018/858: passenger cars (M1), light commercial vehicles (N1), heavy goods vehicles (N2: over 3.5 tonnes to 12 tonnes; N3: over 12 tonnes), buses, and trailers. If your product requires an EU type approval or is sold into EU markets via type approval, you are almost certainly subject to the E-CoC digital signing requirement.

Under eIDAS, Advanced Electronic Seals (AdESeal) are permitted under the regulation's text, but Qualified Electronic Seals (QESeal) offer the highest legal assurance and are confirmed by authorities including RDW as meeting requirements. Qualified seals are issued by an EU-listed QTSP and carry legal equivalence to a handwritten signature in all 27 member states removing any ambiguity in cross-border acceptance. We recommend qualified seals for all E-CoC workflows.

The implementation is being led by Netherlands (RDW) and Germany (KBA) National Access Points operating the "Version 2" IVI standards, with other EU countries following. However, the legal requirement under EU Regulation 2024/1061 applies EU-wide from 5 July 2026. The phased national rollout does not affect the legal deadline, manufacturers must be compliant for all EU markets from that date, not just the Netherlands and Germany.