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The Belgian government, during its presidency of the Council of the European Union in early 2024, unveiled plans to accelerate the development of a blockchain infrastructure project in Europe.
During its EU presidency, Belgium will focus on a European #blockchain in the public sector
The country will promote the development of a transnational blockchain infrastructure for the storage and management of official documents, says Minister of Digitalization Mathieu Michel…
—Dr. Martin Hiesboeck (@MHiesboeck) November 21, 2023
Mathieu Michel, the Belgian Minister of State for Digitalization, shared with Science|Business media on November 21 the four most important objectives that the country wants to achieve during his coming presidency.
These objectives include establishing a public blockchain for the infrastructure of the pan-European Union and initiatives to address challenges related to the digital economy, online anonymity and artificial intelligence (AI).
Michel emphasized the idea of building innovative blockchain applications on a common infrastructure under government supervision, given the growing number of countries exploring blockchain-based applications.
The Minister of Digitalization also proposed a strategic review of the European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (EBSI) project, which was established by the European Commission in 2018.
The project collaborated with the European Blockchain Partnership of 27 EU member states, including Liechtenstein and Norway.
The proposed revival would see EBSI renamed ‘Europeum’ and structured as the European Digital Infrastructure Consortium (EDIC), a legal framework established in December 2022 to enable member states to implement projects.
If implemented, Europeum would serve several purposes in public administration, such as enabling the recognition of driving licenses and other documents in EU member states.
Furthermore, it could streamline procedures such as VAT returns. The infrastructure could also support applications such as the digital euro.
Furthermore, Michel noted that creating a public blockchain for pan-EU use goes beyond a technical project; it must be treated as a European and political initiative.
This implies that the initiative not only involves technical aspects, but also requires cooperation and commitment at political level, highlighting the need for coordinated efforts and support from different European stakeholders.
The EU Blockchain project is an alternative to private chains
The Minister of Digitalisation highlighted the endless possibilities that an EU-backed blockchain infrastructure could offer, especially in terms of security and transparency.
He referred to the fundamental concept of blockchain technology, noting how data is held in consecutive blocks and securely connected in a blockchain network.
Once included in a block, data cannot be changed retroactively without changing all subsequent blocks. This inherent immutability makes it challenging for anyone, including hackers, to tamper with captured information.
Michel noted that the unique blockchain structure underlines the security that the proposed EU blockchain project entails, making it preferable to private alternatives.
Apart from the proposed project integration of blockchain technology, it integrates mechanisms to prevent accidental changes to data by regular users.
“In terms of security, transparency and privacy, the blockchain can return control to citizens over the data belonging to them,” the minister said.
However, this is not possible on private blockchains, which are joined to servers outside the EU and often deployed to follow data transparency principles, which often poses privacy concerns.
At the time of writing, Romania, Italy, Croatia, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia and Luxembourg have officially adopted or ratified a European plan regarding cryptocurrencies and blockchain.
The project will be headquartered in Belgium, signaling joint efforts between these countries to establish uniform regulations for the emerging digital assets and blockchain space.
