The New Electronic Identification Act

On 11 May, the Parliament adopted at second reading the Electronic Identification Act (promulgated in The State Gazette, No 38 of 20 May 2016), implementing the measures set out in Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 2014 on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the internal market. The subject-matter of the law is the regulation of the issues relating to the electronic identification of natural persons. In accordance with the new legislation, Bulgarian citizens and foreign nationals who have a unique registration number or a foreign national’s personal number respectively are entitled to have an electronic identifier on the basis of which a person could be distinguished among other persons in the virtual environment for the purpose of authorizing access to information systems or providing an opportunity to make electronic statements. The electronic identity certificates will be issued by the Minister of Interior on the basis of an application served in writing by the natural person. As the bill presenters have pointed out in their reasons, the overriding objective of the new law is to achieve a higher level of efficiency in the functioning of the e-government in the Republic of Bulgaria, which is oriented to citizens and businesses.