Belgium to Push for EU-Wide Blockchain Initiative During EU Council Presidency

According to CoinDesk, Belgium is set to take on the presidency of the EU Council, which gathers government ministers from member states. During its six-month presidency, Belgium's Digital Minister Mathieu Michel plans to gather political support for an EU-wide blockchain initiative. Michel has already shared his vision for an EU-wide digital infrastructure that could store records such as driving licenses and property titles on a common blockchain controlled by the bloc’s governments. The European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (EBSI) initiative, which began in 2018 as a technical project, is key to this plan. Michel said the goal is to rev up political support for EBSI during Belgium’s six-month Council presidency, and that eight member states are already on board. He believes that artificial intelligence and blockchain technology applications could be key to the EU’s pursuit of digital sovereignty, encompassing control over data and authority over cyberspace. The EU has been prolific in recent years, introducing legislative plans for everything from crypto to artificial intelligence, data sharing, a digital euro, and even the metaverse. With the Markets in Crypto Asset (MiCA) regulation finalized this year, the bloc is set to become the first major jurisdiction in the world to have a comprehensive regime for the digital asset space. Michel assures a unified blockchain infrastructure won’t be designed to collect any new data from citizens. He said the shift is in the way the government offers that data back to citizens. Michel also noted there is a chance that blockchain tech could be replaced by something else altogether, such as quantum computing. However, he believes the EU should try to be the first in blockchain technology. “If we are not in advance, it means that we are already too late,” he added.