Belgium has outlined plans to expedite the development of a European blockchain infrastructure as part of its presidency of the Council of the European Union in early 2024. The proposal focuses on enabling the secure storage of official documents such as driving licenses and property titles.
As one of the four priorities during its upcoming presidency, Belgium aims to reboot the European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (EBSI) project. The EBSI project was initiated by the European Commission in 2018 in collaboration with the European Blockchain Partnership, which includes the 27 EU member states along with Norway and Liechtenstein.
The renewed EBSI project, to be renamed Europeum, will serve public administration tasks, including the verification of driver’s licenses and other documents across the EU. Additionally, the project is envisioned to support the infrastructure of the digital euro. Belgium’s Secretary of State for Digitization, Mathieu Michel, emphasizes the importance of using a public blockchain developed by EU member states rather than private alternatives, citing benefits in terms of security, transparency, and privacy.
Italy, Croatia, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Luxembourg, and Romania have already committed to the Europeum plan. The project’s headquarters will be based in Belgium.
This initiative aligns with the broader trend of regulatory consolidation in the cryptocurrency and blockchain space. In early November, 47 national governments pledged to swiftly incorporate the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF), an international standard for the automatic exchange of information between tax authorities, into their domestic legal systems.