Article 4 Validity of electronic documents

Whenever the applicable Community or national provision requires the signed original of a document, an electronic document drawn up or received by the Commission satisfies this requirement if the document in question bears an advanced electronic signature which is based on a qualified certificate and which is created by a secure signature creation device or an electronic signature offering equivalent assurances with regard to the functionalities attributed to a signature.

Whenever the applicable Community or national provision requires a document to be drawn up in writing without, however, requiring a signed original, an electronic document drawn up or received by the Commission satisfies this requirement if the person from whom it emanates is duly identified and the document is drawn up under such conditions as to guarantee the integrity of its contents and of the relevant metadata and is stored in accordance with the conditions laid down in Article 7.

The provisions of this Article shall apply from the day following the adoption of the implementing rules referred to in Article 9.