On October 3, 2018, the European Parliament published a resolution on distributed ledger technologies (DLTs) and blockchain. DLTs and blockchain are the technologies behind bitcoin and other crypto currencies, and basically consist in a ledger of digital information maintained in decentralised form across a large network of computers. See here for more information.
The EU Parliament supports the development and use of DLT specifically because it “promotes the empowerment of citizens by giving them the opportunity to control their own data and decide what data to share in the ledger, as well as the capacity to choose who else can see them.”
The resolution lists the positive application that DLTs may have in several industries and sectors (such as in the health sector or in the management of intellectual property).
The EU Parliament acknowledge the existence of questions and concerns on issues such as data protection or taxation can inhibit the potential for development of DLT in the EU. Therefore, the EU authority suggests several policies for boosting DLTs in Europe. Notably, the resolution “Underlines that the Union should not regulate DLT per se, but should try to remove existing barriers to implementing blockchains.”
Even if the EU Parliament does not deem an EU regulation appropriate, it “recommends that existing and future DLT-related initiatives and pilot projects carried out by the Commission should be closely coordinated… so as to realise synergy effects and ensure the creation of real added value while avoiding costly double structures.”
Notwithstanding the general positive attitude, the EU Parliament warns about the use of DLTs since “risks and problems of the technology are not yet completely known.”
The resolution is not binding, but it might influence the EU Commission’s approach to DLTs.
More on Blockchain is available at http://www.technethics.com…
Originally published on Technethics on November 2018