Why the EU uses blockchain to create Europe’s citizen-centered Internet

Blockchain has been heralded as the decentralization platform since its early days. Others have hoped to use it to combat some of the more alarming evils associated with today’s highly centralized and platform-dominated Webs — such as lack of privacy, false news, or the accumulation of data-wealth in the hands of a few. And we also seem to be waiting for a detailed explanation of how this might possibly happen.

That can improve in Europe. Although rather under the radar, European policymakers have been engaged in building a vision of how blockchain could be applied to the European Digital Single Market. Many who support a more citizen-centric, privacy-conserving Internet approach should consider a decent amount to like in it.

Those interested in a summary of what’s going on may want to read the Conclusions and Reflections 2018–2020 study recently released by the EU Blockchain Observatory and Forum. Not only does the paper contain a compendium of the Observatory’s first two years of research investigating the condition of blockchain in Europe. It also features interviews on the future of the European blockchain regulatory and policy environment with key EU blockchain policymakers — including MEP Eva Kaili, Director-General of DG CONNECT Roberto Viola, and Pēteris Zilgalvis, head of the EC ‘s blockchain unit.