February 5, 2018

The Commission says that the Blockchain Observatory and Forum will highlight key developments of blockchain technology, promote European participators and reinforce European engagement with multiple stakeholders involved in blockchain activities.

The Commission explains that blockchain technologies, which store blocks of information that are distributed across the network, are seen as a major breakthrough, as they bring about high levels of traceability and security in economic transactions online. They are expected to impact digital services and transform business models in a wide range of areas, such as healthcare, insurance, finance, energy, logistics, intellectual property rights management and government services.

Commissioner Andrus Ansip said: “Technologies like blockchain can help reduce costs while increasing trust, traceability and security. They have huge potential for making social and economic transactions more secure online by guarding against an attack and removing the need for any middleman. We want to build on Europe’s substantial talent base and excellent startups to become a leading world region that will develop and invest in the rollout of blockchain.”

The Commission says it wants to build on existing initiatives, ensure that they can work across borders, consolidate expertise and address challenges (such as disintermediation, trust, security and traceability by design).

The EU Blockchain Observatory and Forum will gather information, monitor and analyse trends, address challenges and explore blockchains’ socioeconomic potential. It will enable cross-border cooperation on practical use cases, bringing Europe’s best experts together and will promote an open forum for blockchain technologists, innovators, citizens, industry stakeholders, public authorities, regulators and supervisors, to discuss and develop new ideas in order to learn, engage and contribute in an open way. To read the Commission’s press release in full, click here.