Belgium aims to fast-track the development of a European blockchain infrastructure during its EU Council Presidency in 2024. The proposal focuses on secure storage for official documents like driving licenses. Learn about the renewed European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (EBSI), now called Europeum, and its potential impact on public administration tasks across the EU.
Belgium’s government, led by Secretary of State for Digitization Mathieu Michel, plans to accelerate the European blockchain infrastructure’s development during its Council of the European Union presidency in early 2024. The initiative, a part of four key priorities, emphasizes secure storage for official documents such as driving licenses. Michel proposes rebooting the European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (EBSI) project, now named Europeum, originally established by the European Commission in 2018. Europeum aims to enhance public administration tasks, including verifying documents across the EU and potentially supporting the digital euro infrastructure.
Michel underlines the importance of using a public blockchain developed by EU member states for its advantages in security, transparency, and privacy. Italy, Croatia, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Luxembourg, and Romania have already signed up for the Europeum plan, with the project’s headquarters located in Belgium. This move aligns with the broader trend of regulatory consolidation in the crypto and blockchain space, as evidenced by 47 national governments pledging to adopt the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) in early November.