Qualified Electronic Attestation of Attributes (QEAA)

A Qualified Electronic Attestation of Attributes (QEAA) is the highest tier of attribute attestation under eIDAS 2.0. Issued exclusively by Qualified Trust Service Providers (QTSPs), a QEAA benefits from a legal presumption that the attributes it contains are accurate and that the attestation has been issued in compliance with the regulation.

This legal presumption holds across all EU Member States without the need for additional recognition or validation. QEAAs are particularly significant in scenarios where attribute verification has legal consequences. For example, proving professional qualifications (a doctor's licence to practise), confirming power of representation for a company, or verifying educational credentials for regulated professions.

The QTSP issuing a QEAA must verify the attributes against authentic sources (such as government registries, educational institutions, or professional bodies) and must comply with all the requirements for qualified trust services, including security, auditing, and supervision. Under eIDAS 2.0, Member States must ensure that attributes attested by public sector bodies are available for issuance as QEAAs, either directly by the public body acting as or through a QTSP, or via designated attribute providers.

This creates a pathway for the digitisation of government-issued documents and certificates. For relying parties, receiving a QEAA provides the highest level of legal certainty about the accuracy of the attested attributes. For businesses that need to verify credentials as part of regulatory compliance, such as banks verifying customer identity or employers verifying professional licences, QEAAs offer a streamlined, legally robust mechanism that replaces manual document verification.