An overview of the French and European market: the eIDAS 2.0 regulatory framework, the rollout of the EUDI wallet, usage by sector, persistent barriers and the outlook for 2026-2027. A reference document for executives, lawyers, CIOs and operational teams driving the digitisation of their contracts.
2026 marks a turning point for electronic signatures in Europe. After more than twenty-five years of legal recognition in France (Act of 13 March 2000, article 1367 of the Civil Code), digital contracts have become everyday practice, and the advanced electronic signature (AES) has become the norm for high-stakes commercial contracts.
Yet this year is not like any other. Three major movements converge. First, the application of eIDAS 2.0 regulation, adopted in 2024, which introduces the European digital identity wallet (EUDI Wallet) and redefines the conditions for qualified signature (QES). Second, the democratization of QES, which slowly exits the sphere of notaries and public procurement to become accessible to all companies through pooled trust service providers. Finally, the emergence of AI in the contractual chain — from clause drafting to post-signature verification — which reconfigures usage patterns and calls for new vigilance on personal data protection.
For businesses, the benefits are tangible: on the Certyneo platform, half of all remote signatures arrive within 35 minutes of sending, whereas a registered letter with proof of delivery costs €7.56 at La Poste's public price, before printing and delivery time. Add to this a digital evidence file that is more robust than paper and GDPR compliance when the platform is hosted in the EU. Barriers remain, however (perceived legal risk, complexity for external signers, hosting sovereignty), and this report documents them honestly.
This document is aimed at executives deciding on a rollout, lawyers securing processes, CIOs integrating signatures into their information systems, and operational teams (sales, HR, legal, purchasing) who sign documents every day. It may be freely reproduced provided it is credited. Every figure is either taken from a cited public source or measured on the Certyneo platform with its base and period; none is estimated.
We address in turn the market's key figures, the regulatory evolution, sector-level adoption dynamics, 18-24-month trends, persistent barriers, selection criteria for a solution, Certyneo's positioning, and our outlook for 2027.
Every figure below is either taken from a legal text or public price list, or measured on the Certyneo platform with its base and period. None is an estimate.
Median time between sending a signature request and the signature
Source: Certyneo 2026 Barometer, measured on 388 remote signatures (invitations sent from 17 April to 26 September 2026)
A quarter of signatures arrive in under 4 minutes, another quarter after more than 15 hours.
Price of a registered letter with proof of delivery (20 g)
Source: La Poste, prices from 1 January 2026: R1 registered letter €6.11 + proof of delivery €1.45
Excluding printing, envelope, preparation time and paper archiving.
Share of remote signatures made on a smartphone
Source: Certyneo 2026 Barometer, 163 signatures out of 388
Median time on a smartphone: 27 minutes, against 49 minutes on a computer.
EU member states covered by the eIDAS regulation
Source: Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 and eIDAS 2.0 revision (2024)
SES, AES, QES — the three eIDAS levels
Source: eIDAS Regulation, Articles 25 to 34
Retention period for a contract concluded online with a consumer, from €120
Source: French Consumer Code, articles L213-1, D213-1 and D213-2
Not to be confused with the general limitation period of 5 years (article 2224 of the French Civil Code).
Adopted in April 2024 and in force the same year, the eIDAS 2.0 regulation (Regulation (EU) 2024/1183) substantially amends Regulation (EU) 910/2014. It keeps the three historical levels — simple (SES), advanced (AES) and qualified (QES) electronic signatures — but introduces the European Digital Identity Wallet (EUDI Wallet). Every member state must offer its citizens, by 24 December 2026 at the latest, a compliant wallet for identifying themselves and signing at QES level.
In concrete terms, the wallet takes the form of a certified mobile app that holds the citizen's digital identity, verified attributes (diplomas, licences, professional cards) and a native QES signing capability. It runs on the OpenID for Verifiable Credentials standard. For companies, this means that from 2026-2027 a signer will be able to sign a contract at QES level without buying an individual certificate or acquiring a specific device — their smartphone will be enough.
In France, ANSSI publishes the reference frameworks applicable to trust-service providers (PSCO, PSCE) and delivers qualifications. The main frameworks — RGS, PVID, First-Level Security Certification — articulate with European ETSI standards (EN 319 401, EN 319 411, EN 319 421). The SecNumCloud label, required by the "Cloud at the centre" doctrine, governs the use of cloud platforms for administrations and OIV (operators of vital importance).
At the national level, article 1367 of the Civil Code — introduced by the law of March 13, 2000 and amended by the ordinance of February 10, 2016 — grants electronic signature the same value as handwritten signature, subject to reliable identification of the signer and document integrity. Decree no. 2017-1416 of September 28, 2017 specifies the conditions for the presumption of reliability reserved for QES. Article 1366 of the Civil Code, for its part, admits electronic writing as evidence.
A qualitative reading, without figures: which documents each sector signs electronically and at which eIDAS level. No representative source measures adoption by sector in France, so we publish no rates.
Use cases: Sale mandates, preliminary agreements, commercial leases, inventory of fixtures, amendments.
Practices: Common for mandates and leases. AES preferred for leases; the final deed of sale is still executed before a notary.
Use cases: Employment contracts, amendments, contractual terminations, associated DPAE filings.
Practices: AES with a one-time SMS code is common for employment contracts; integrations with HR information systems are becoming widespread.
Use cases: Product subscriptions, management mandates, amendments, powers of attorney.
Practices: Know-your-customer (KYC) requirements supervised by the ACPR: AES or QES depending on the product. Highly industrialised processes.
Use cases: NDAs, settlement agreements, mandates, fee agreements.
Practices: Law firms favour AES for private agreements; QES remains rare outside notarial deeds.
Use cases: Consents, cooperation agreements, supplier contracts.
Practices: Strict requirements for health data hosting (HDS) and from the CNIL; used mainly for supplier contracts and agreements.
Use cases: Public procurement, deliberations, grant agreements.
Practices: When a public procurement contract is signed electronically, the order of 22 March 2019 requires at least an advanced signature based on a qualified certificate. FranceConnect+ and the upcoming EUDI wallet make identification easier.
Six underlying movements will shape the market over the next eighteen months.
Every member state must offer at least one wallet by 24 December 2026 at the latest (Regulation 2024/1183, art. 5a). It will let every citizen sign at QES level from their smartphone, with a high eIDAS identity assurance level.
QES, long reserved for notaries and public procurement, is becoming accessible via shared QTSPs and the future identity wallets. Entry barriers (cost, UX) are falling sharply.
Automatic clause analysis, key-date extraction, risk detection: AI is entering the loop upstream of signing. Caution is required on personal-data processing and accountability.
E-signature platforms are converging on REST APIs, webhooks and native connectors (Zapier, Make, HubSpot, Salesforce, Slack). Integration cost for SMEs is collapsing.
European buyers — especially public and regulated ones — increasingly require EU hosting, GDPR-by-design compliance and independence from the US Cloud Act.
On the Certyneo platform, 42 % of remote signatures are made on a smartphone, where people sign faster than on a computer (median of 27 minutes against 49). A flow designed for the computer first penalises those signers.
For a deeper look at market developments: Trends in electronic signature in 2025
An honest report cannot be limited to celebrating success stories. Here are the obstacles we observe most frequently — including among prospects who ultimately give up on dematerialisation.
Despite twenty-five years of legal recognition (law of March 13, 2000, article 1367 of the Civil Code, eIDAS regulation), some legal departments retain distrust of SES. The reflex "handwritten signature = safer" persists, even though the electronic audit trail is objectively more robust than ink.
CIOs legitimately demand guarantees on hosting, encryption, evidence retention and data portability. Platforms that do not publicly document their architecture or depend on an extra-European cloud are disqualified outright from sensitive tenders.
External signers — clients, partners, candidates — shouldn't have to create an account. Platforms requiring sign-up, app download or a journey of more than three screens cause completion rates to drop.
Beyond the posted per-signature price, real cost includes licences, SMS OTP volumes, bespoke integrations and long-term archiving. Opaque pricing grids slow decisions, particularly for SMEs.
Without a clear signing policy (who can sign what, at which eIDAS level, with which approval workflow), deployment remains anecdotal. The obstacle is cultural and organisational as much as technical.
Six criteria are enough to disqualify most offerings and converge on an informed choice. We recommend using them as-is in your RFP.
Request the precise list of supported levels (SES, AES, QES), the identification of the trust-service provider (or partner QTSP), and publication of the audit trail embedded in each signed document.
France or the European Union preferred, with a contractual commitment to no extra-EU transfer. Verify the hosting provider (OVH, Scaleway, AWS EU with an explicit EU region), ISO 27001 certification and, for healthcare, HDS.
Standard webhooks (`envelope.sent`, `recipient.signed`, `envelope.completed`), documented REST API (OpenAPI), Zapier / Make / HubSpot / Salesforce / Slack connectors. Without integrations, signing remains a silo.
Prefer fixed per-user or per-envelope plans with clear included thresholds. Beware hidden surcharges (SMS OTP, long-term archiving, exports).
Test the no-account journey: average signing time, mobile accessibility, clarity of instructions, handling of refusals. A good indicator: fewer than 3 clicks for an already-identified signer.
French, English, Spanish, German, Italian at minimum if your activity is European. Localisation of emails and the signer interface is key to completion rates.
In the interests of transparency — since this report is published by Certyneo — we specify here what we offer, what we don't offer, and what sets us apart.
Electronic signatures have become an ordinary contracting tool. On the Certyneo platform, half of all remote signatures arrive within 35 minutes and 42 % are made on a smartphone; the legal framework, for its part, has been stable since 2016 and is being extended by eIDAS 2.0. We put no figure on the size or growth of the market: no representative public source allows it.
Three priorities emerge for the next eighteen months. First, anticipate the arrival of the EUDI wallet: companies equipping themselves today with an eIDAS-compliant and extensible solution will not suffer costly migration when QES becomes democratized. Second, strengthen internal governance: a clear signature policy, broken down by contract type and level of importance, remains the main success factor — more so than the choice of tool itself. Finally, integrate signature into business processes rather than extract it from them: value is created in workflows (CRM, HRIS, procurement, legal), not in the isolated platform.
Looking ahead to 2027, we put forward three hypotheses, which are opinions rather than measurements: QES will gain ground on high-stakes contracts as EUDI wallets become available; AI will be built into contract review, under specific regulation (AI Act); and European sovereignty — EU hosting, independence from the US Cloud Act — will weigh more heavily in B2B tenders.
Electronic signature is no longer an IT project. It has become a contractual infrastructure. Organisations that treat it as such — with the rigour, governance and durability given to infrastructure — get the most out of it.
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