General information

Międzyzdroje hosted the annual, 6th European Forum on E-signature (EFES) 2006, held on 7-9 June and attended by 100 participants from 16 countries of Europe and Asia, namely: Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Korea, Germany, Norway, Russia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Hungary, Italy, Ukraine and Poland.

Speakers and participants in the European Forum on E-signature 2006 represented the European Commission, governments, business and academic circles and exchanged ideas and opinions on the theory and practical issues regarding the e-document and e-signature during lectures, workshops, unofficial meetings and sessions.

The special attention was paid to such issues, as e-invoicing and long-term archiving of e-documents while maintaining their legal force and effect. This year’s edition offered an opportunity to introduce the General Certification Authority – CERTUM, services provided by the Electronic Delivery Authority and its component, Electronic Registry Box, for the government administration.

The so called ‘technological impartiality’ promoted by the European Commission raised a storm of controversy. In the opinion of the majority of participants it is just pure fiction and causes the lack of common standards and interoperability that hamper the development of e-document and e-signature market within the European Union. The participants representing Poland emphasized different weak points of the said market in Poland, already known from the media coverage. There were statements and opinions pointing out a considerable delay in developing legal regulations or the lack thereof, inclusive of the lack of e-document models for the government and the e-signature is a victim of informatization problems faced by the administration itself.