How developed is trust and security in the Eastern partner countries? Does the region lag behind more advanced digital economies in this area, and what are the implications?

The Eastern partner countries have a solid technological basis for enabling digital trust services, but more remains to be done to achieve mutual recognition of trust services. Enabling cross-border mutual recognition of trust services between the Eastern partner countries and EU member states requires dedicated effort to ensure regulatory, audit and conformity assessment compatibility with eIDAS requirements, technical measures compatible with eIDAS requirements, compatibility of data privacy and protection practices with GDPR, as well as trust representation for mutual recognition.

The main objectives of the EU4Digital project in the area of trust and security are to identify potential gaps for cross-border mutual recognition of trust services and to offer a practical action plan and assistance to overcome those issues. The EU4Digital Facility has completed assessments on legal and technical maturity of trust and eID services in each Eastern partner country. Based on the assessments and lessons learned from eSignature pilots, EU4Digital has developed country-specific action plans for cross-border mutual recognition, based on eIDAS defined practices and the MRA Cookbook. Through the recommendations issued, the aim is to enable the countries to achieve the next level or readiness towards cross-border mutual recognition.