But what is electronic archiving? The terminology of ”Electronic Archiving” might sound narrower than ”Digital Preservation”, but in effect it translates preservation principles into enforceable guarantees, aligning them with the needs of legal admissibility and trust interoperability.

From the perspective of digital preservation specialists, Electronic Archiving as introduced by Regulation (EU) 2024/1183 represents a formal and regulated instantiation of long-standing practices within the field. Conceptually grounded in the OAIS (Open Archival Information System) model, Electronic Archiving (or eArchiving) encompasses the processes, roles, and structures necessary to ensure that digital information remains usable, understandable, and verifiable over the very long term.

In eIDAS (and European Union) terminology this becomes:

• Confidentiality
• Integrity
• Availability
• Authenticity

What sets Electronic Archiving apart is its explicit legal anchoring in the trust service framework under eIDAS. It does not merely suggest best practices, but it codifies them into a compliance framework, complete with certification and auditability. This legal framing introduces a Qualified Trust Service layer atop of the traditional objectives of digital preservation: it unites technical sustainability with legal probative value.

For professionals already well versed in things like representation information, fixity validation, and designated community (relying parties in eIDAS lingo), this development signals a shift: from functional longevity to cross-border legal opposability. The terminology of ”Electronic Archiving” might sound narrower than ”Digital Preservation”, but in effect it translates preservation principles into enforceable guarantees, aligning them with the needs of legal admissibility and trust interoperability.

It’s worth highlighting that this overlap in terminology can create confusion. Within the regulation, Electronic Archiving is essentially a legally constrained application of Digital Preservation, with additional requirements for traceability, evidence production, and integration with other trust services (such as e-signatures and time stamping).

”Without preservation, the signature loses its legal weight over time and the document itself might become unavailable.”

Why Authenticity and Provenance Matter

While authenticity and provenance are core to any preservation strategy, eIDAS 2 elevates them from practice to proof: archived objects gain legal presumption through qualified mechanisms such as secure timestamps and evidence records.

Authenticity means information is still what it originally claimed to be. Provenance tells us where it came from. In a digital world, this is guaranteed using digital signatures, secure timestamps, fixity checks (such as hashes), metadata trails, and sometimes representation management: the archived objects, metadata and all transformations are stored together with proof that links them.

These mechanisms are also central to the OAIS model, which stresses the importance of maintaining the chain of custody and fixity throughout the information lifecycle.

But even a digitally signed document is not enough if the signature becomes unverifiable in 5 years. That’s where preservation comes in: Ensuring that the document, signature, and evidence remain valid and legible far beyond their technical lifespan.

Additionally, archived information should not only be stored; it should also be made available as an authentic source for sharing information between people, systems, and across borders. This is especially relevant in automated cross-border data exchanges, for example, in the context of the Single Digital Gateway or the European Digital Identity Wallet (EUDIW). In these systems, information must be interoperable and its authenticity guaranteed.

The Challenge with Digital Certificates

Digital signatures rely on certificates. But these certificates expire, sometimes after just two or three years. The signature doesn’t disappear, but it can no longer be validated if the issuing certificate is unavailable or revoked.

Preservation actions like timestamp renewal, evidence record embedding (RFC 4998), and cryptographic agility are essential to mitigate this risk. These methods enable verification of authenticity even after key expiration, aligning directly with OAIS’s preservation planning function.

This is a real problem for long-term contracts, diplomas, legal acts, or HR documents. Without preservation, the signature loses its legal weight over time and the document itself might become unavailable. The document might still exist, but it can no longer be viewed and its integrity can no longer be validated.

This is exactly why the European Union updated its eIDAS regulation, and why electronic archiving is now formally recognised as a Qualified Trust Service.

Why eIDAS 2 Introduces Electronic Archiving

The amended Regulation (EU) 2024/1183 adds Electronic Archiving as a new Qualified Trust Service. Its purpose is to address the growing need for trust in digital information from its creation until the end of its legal retention period. Until now, archiving wasn’t regulated, and users had no assurance that archived documents would hold up in court.

With QeA (Qualified Electronic Archiving), that changes.

A QeA service guarantees:

• That the data was archived with integrity.
• That it is proven unchanged.
• That it remains legible and verifiable.
• That proper procedures, logging, metadata, and security were followed.

These requirements mirror many principles of the OAIS model, especially regarding data ingest, preservation planning, and access.

Legal consequences of Regulation 2024/1183:

• The regulation has been in effect since 21 May 2024.
• As an EU regulation, it is applicable directly in all member states and supersedes national laws.
• The goal is to create harmonisation and legal certainty for Electronic Archiving across the EU.
• Information archived through a QeA gains non-repudiation and reversal of the burden of proof.
• Local exceptions should be phased out to create consistency.
• If information needs to be opposable to third parties, particularly those in other countries, and must be guaranteed to be accepted, then archiving it under a QeA is essential.

This regulation makes it clear: eArchiving is no longer a technical niche, but a legally recognised cornerstone of digital trust.

Impact for Preservation Professionals

This shift also changes the role of information managers and archivists. No longer limited to metadata curation and format migration, they now operate within a legal and trust-based ecosystem. They must evaluate providers not only for functionality, but for regulatory compliance. They must also ensure that archived information is future-proof: and usable by the next generation of software, staff — or citizens.

Professionals will find that frameworks like OAIS remain essential tools to understand their responsibilities: from identifying what must be preserved (the Submission Information Package), to ensuring it can be accessed and understood decades later (as a Dissemination Information Package).

This new environment also demands cross-disciplinary competence — professionals must combine archival expertise with a working understanding of legal frameworks and trust service certification.

In short: they are becoming Trust Architects.

What Does the Future Bring?

With electronic archiving becoming a regulated trust service, we can expect a rapid shift in how organisations treat digital information. It’s no longer enough to save PDFs on a file server. Organisations will need to demonstrate the chain of custody, immutability, and legal trustworthiness, not just internally, but to courts, regulators, partners and the public.

This also opens doors. With digital credentials, electronic diplomas, health records and digital wallets on the rise, the ability to preserve data with trust built-in will become a strategic asset — not just a legal requirement.

The question for every organisation is: are you archiving, or are you just storing?

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Frederik Rosseel holds a degree in Applied Economics, but has built his career at the intersection of information management, law, and technology. Since the beginning, his work has focused on translating legal and regulatory requirements into practical and trustworthy IT solutions. 

In 2006, he founded Docbyte with the ambition to productise solutions for information processing and digital archiving. In 2023, Docbyte became the first qualified trust service provider for Qualified Electronic Archiving in Belgium, with the launch of the Docbyte Vault. 

Frederik is an active member of several expert groups in this domain and closely follows international developments in the field of digital trust, compliance, and long-term information preservation.