In a draft communication from the European Commission, it is suggested that the EU is seeking to create a blockchain proof-of-concept focused on regulation.

According to the published document:

“The commission also launched an internal FinTech Task Force which involves all relevant services working on financial regulation, technology, data and competition to ensure that our assessment reflects the multi-disciplinary approach that FinTech developments ask for.”

The pilot project will receive funding from European Parliament, and will aim at “reinforcing the capacity and technical expertise of national regulators with regard to distributed ledger technology.”

There will also be a public consultation to gather input from stakeholders.

AREAS OF FOCUS

The document says that the consultation is focused on three policy objectives that reflect the main opportunities and challenges related to Fintech.

Increasing consumer trust and empowerment

The EU wants to create a EU-wide retail financial services market, including bank accounts, insurance and mortgage credit.

In particular, the commission has its eye on dynamic currency conversion and the effect this could have on helping consumers make informed choices across their borders.

Reduce legal and regulatory obstacles

The commission wants to introduce common creditworthiness assessment standards and principles for lending to consumers. This includes developing a minimum set of data to be exchanged and stored between credit register in cross-border assessments.

Support development of ‘an innovative digital world’

The report states that it wants to introduce reforms that “should make it easier for the private sector to overcome some of the existing barriers to the Single Market while maintaining a high level of security.”

Benoit Abeloos, Policy Officer, ICT Innovation at European Commission will be speaking on our ‘Is code the new law?’ panel at Blockchain Expo Europe on 1-2 June in Berlin.