In 2016, the EU eIDAS regulation came into force. With eIDAS regulation, the EU has regulated how identification, authentication, and signing should take place online. The idea is that all EU citizens should have a recognized electronic identity that can be used to register, sign in, and e-sign. With this, you could say that the EU created a framework for all citizens to have a personal "pen". A pen that is legally accepted throughout the EU.
The most common use case for the pen to be used is to sign documents. ZealiD mission is to provide these pens to natural personals - to you basically. Pens, that under regulation and standards, are called "qualified certificates". So that everyone can create electronic signatures that are legally recognized in all member states both as identity and also as a binding expression of will. The e-signatures generated from these pens are also legally recognized in all member states as compliant identification according to money laundering acts (AML-KYC).
To create these pens, ZealiD performs two critical functions: