To register a Digital Product Passport in the EU Registry, you must first become a verified economic operator. This is the one step your DPP service provider (including Veridyn) CANNOT do for you — because it is tied to your own legal identity. In this guide we walk you through the process exactly as we did it in the test environment: eIDAS verification with a qualified signature, gotchas included.
Why is verification needed?
Under the ESPR ((EU) 2024/1781), only a verified economic operator may register and manage a product passport. Verification is how the Commission confirms that you really are who you say you are and are entitled to represent the operator. You prove this with a qualified electronic signature (QES) or a qualified electronic seal (QSeal) — both the highest level under the eIDAS Regulation ((EU) 910/2014). Verification is valid for up to 3 years.
Who signs, and with what? (QES vs. QSeal)
| Operator | Instrument | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Legal person (company, entity) | QSeal — qualified e-seal | the company's e-seal from a qualified provider |
| Natural person (sole trader, individual) | QES — qualified e-signature | a national eID or a QTSP certificate |
Both are issued by a Qualified Trust Service Provider (QTSP). As a natural person, the simplest route is usually your country's eID scheme — in Hungary, for example, the free DÁP (Digital Citizenship) app.
The process in 7 steps
- Enrol your organisation — company or personal details, identifier, contact. Here you choose legal or natural person.
- Provide the legal representative — the name and email of the person who may sign the declaration.
- Request the Commission-sealed PDF declaration — the system generates a PDF with your data and seals it with the Commission's qualified seal.
- Download the sealed PDF.
- Sign or seal it with your own QES/QSeal, OUTSIDE the registry (national eID, QTSP). Important: do not change anything else in the PDF — only add your signature. Any other change invalidates the Commission's seal.
- Upload the signed PDF.
- Submit — the system checks the integrity, the signature, the certificate and the identity match. If it passes, you are verified and registration becomes available.
Format: the signature must use a PAdES Baseline profile (B, T, LT or LTA) — other signature containers are not accepted.
Where do you get a qualified signature?
- Your national eID scheme — most EU countries offer an eIDAS-notified eID that can produce a qualified signature, often free. In Hungary this is DÁP (Digital Citizenship): you sign the document in the app and it produces a QSCD-based qualified signature (issued by the state "DAP-CA"). It passed the level check for us on the first try.
- National eID card — if the signing certificate on your ID card is activated, a card reader also yields a qualified signature.
- A QTSP — e.g. commercial providers issuing qualified certificates. Paid but reliable; company seals (QSeal) also come from here. Trusted providers are listed on the EU Trusted List.
The most common pitfall: the identity match
This is where most people fail — us included, on the first attempt. The registry compares the data inside your certificate with the details you entered in the form, and if they do not match, it rejects you. These must match exactly (for a natural person):
| In the form | Certificate "Subject" field |
|---|---|
| First Name | givenName |
| Last Name | surname |
| Country of Registration | countryName |
| Identifier | serialNumber |
The big trap: the Identifier field is NOT your tax number — it must be the value in the certificate's serialNumber field, which is an identifier assigned by the issuer and typically NOT the same as your tax ID. That is exactly why our first attempt failed.
How to read it? Open the signed PDF in Adobe Acrobat Reader → click the signature → Signature Properties → Show Signer's Certificate → Details tab → Subject. There you see serialNumber, givenName, surname — copy them exactly into the form, then generate a NEW declaration and sign again.
For a legal person the logic is the same with different fields: organizationName = legal name, organizationIdentifier = identifier, countryName = country.
Common error messages — and what they mean
- "…signature does not match the information provided in the organisation details" → identity mismatch. Align the form to the certificate (see above).
- "…does not meet the required QES/QSeal level" → you signed with a non-qualified signature. A genuine QES (natural person) / QSeal (company) is required.
- "…does not conform to the required PAdES Baseline format" → wrong signing tool or settings. PAdES B/T/LT/LTA is required.
- "The Commission institutional seal is missing / the document was modified" → you uploaded a document other than the original sealed PDF, or modified it. Only add your signature, nothing else.
Practise in the test environment first
Before doing it for real, practise in the test environment: registry.acc.product-passport.ec.europa.eu. You can spot it by the "MOCK" badge top-left and the "Environment: Acceptance" footer. It needs a separate EU Login, and what you do here is not live — but the process is exactly the same, so there are no surprises in production.
How does Veridyn help?
Veridyn hosts your product passports and, once battery registration goes live, supports the submission and the storage of the returned registration identifier (URI) and proof. But the eIDAS verification is yours — legally it cannot be delegated to the service provider, so arrange it in good time (it has lead time). Related: the EU DPP Registry is live, battery passport, readiness checklist.