Electronic Signatures for Public Procurement across Europe

The PEPPOL (Pan-European Public Procurement On-Line) project is a large scale pilot under the CIP programme of the EU, exploring electronic public procurement in a unified European market. An important element is interoperability of electronic signatures across borders, identified today as a major obstacle to cross-border procurement. PEPPOL will address use of signatures in procurement processes, in particular tendering but also post-award processes like orders and invoices. Signature policies, i.e. quality requirements and requirements on information captured in the signing process, will be developed. This as well as technical interoperability of e-signatures across Europe will finally be piloted in demonstrators starting late 2009 or early 2010.