22 European Nations Seal a New Blockchain Partnership

22 European Nations recently have come together to seal a European Blockchain Partnership with an aim to exchange the experience and expertise for Blockchain technology among the member states.

The European Commission press release says The European Blockchain Partnership “will be a vehicle for cooperation amongst Member States to exchange experience and expertise in technical and regulatory fields and prepare for the launch of EU-wide blockchain applications across the Digital Single Market for the benefit of the public and private sectors.”

This announcement came soon after the European Commission Vice President Andrus Ansip praised the currently growing technologies like artificial intelligence and blockchain. The Vice President also said that there are areas “where Europe is best positioned to play a leading role”.

The list of 22 countries who have signed the declaration includes: Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, the U.K. Sweden, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, and Norway.

Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, welcomed the member states for coming together saying: “In the future, all public services will use blockchain technology. Blockchain is a great opportunity for Europe and member states to rethink their information systems, to promote user trust and the protection of personal data, to help create new business opportunities and to establish new areas of leadership, benefiting citizens, public services, and companies.”

The European Commission has also invited other members from the European Economic Area to join the European Blockchain Partnership. Europe has been seen taking a lot of Blockchain initiatives in the past few months, where back in February, the European Union launched the Blockchain Observatory and Forum while the European Commission promising to host a fintech lab starting the mid of 2018.

Mary Gabriel said that “The Partnership launched today enables Member States to work together with the European Commission to turn the enormous potential of blockchain technology into better services for citizens.”