Seven countries-EU members – Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal and Spain – signed a joint Memorandum, which undertake to promote technologies of the distributed registry with the purpose of transformation of their economies and the consolidation of the region’s leading status in this sector.
The Memorandum was signed on Tuesday, December 4, in Brussels, and beyond the technology of the distributed registry in it as transformative forces are also called artificial intelligence and the Internet of things.
As stated in the document, the block chain can become a decisive force in increasing efficiency and transparency in public services – from education and healthcare to transportation and customs services, improving their quality and privacy for citizens.
“In this sense, we believe that support for privacy through the blockchain-a solution may be a promising step which will give citizens the ability to control personal data”, — said in a Memorandum.
It is also noted that governments have a responsibility to ensure that citizens fully understand the potential of new technologies, which requires support educational programmes at all levels.
Separately, the document emphasizes the future regulation of such technologies:
“We believe that any legislation in relation to the technologies of the distributed registry should take account of their decentralized nature and must be based on fundamental European principles and neutrality”.
The Secretary of the Parliament of Malta on digital innovation and Finance Silvio Schembri also posted a tweet in which he said that he was proud of the fact that Malta, the smallest country in the EU has assumed a leading role regarding the cooperation in the field of blockchain.
@MaltaGov leads 6 other EU Member States to sign a joint declaration on cooperation on #blockchain technology. Proud to see the smallest nation in the EU taking a leading role. Thank you #France #Spain #Italy #Portugal #Greece & #Cyprus for your support.@MaltainEU #ourfuture -SS pic.twitter.com/poyETgZwCw
— Silvio Schembri (@SilvioSchembri) December 4, 2018
This summer, Malta became the first European country which adopted new legislation governing the industry of cryptocurrencies and the blockchain.
Source
