After Norway and Liechtenstein, Ukraine has become the third non-European Union (EU) country to join the European Blockchain Association (EBP).for its acronym in English), a initiative stemming from 27 Member States to provide cross-border public services.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation announced on June 17 the country’s accession to the EBP as an observer. With the ultimate goal of integrating its digital economic space with the EU, Ukraine plans to expand its interstate blockchain network partnership with other countries..
Ukraine’s intention to join the EBP dates back to July 2021, when Oleksii Zhmerenetskyi, the head of the Blockchain4Ukraine parliamentary group, and Konstantin Yarmolenko, the founder and CEO of Virtual Assets of Ukraine, wrote a letter to Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the european commission. The letter declared Ukraine’s interest in joining the EBP and the European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (EBSI). von der Leyen subsequently confirmed the prospect of Ukraine’s accession to the EBP as an observer.
Speaking to Cointelegraph, Yarmolenko stated the Ukraine’s interest in launching the EBSI test node and pilot use cases of cross-border public services based on blockchain technology. He highlighted that cryptocurrency donations during the Russo-Ukrainian war “proved to be a major supporter”, stating:
“The next step is the full blockchain integration of Ukraine and the EU based on the EBP/EBSI initiatives.”
After working with the EBP on pilot blockchain use cases as an observer, Ukraine aspires to become a full member. Yarmolenko further revealed that Ukraine is targeting other blockchain associations to provide cross-border public services to citizens of Ukraine, including verification of educational credentials/diplomas and identity credentials and refugee/asylum registration and support.
While sharing the details of the partnership, Yarmolenko stated that the move to join the EBP is a way of strengthening ties with the EUadding that “I would even call it blockchain integration with the EU.”
Furthermore, pointing to one of the advantages of the blockchain partnership with the EU, Zhmerenetsky highlighted that Ukraine’s accession to the EBP would reduce the recognition of Ukrainian documents for higher education and driving licenses for Ukrainian refugees in Europe.
Mairead McGuinness, Commissioner for Financial Services, Financial Stability and Capital Markets Union of the European Commission, recently highlighted the need to “regulate all crypto assets, whether they are unbacked crypto assets or so-called stablecoins”.
The EU commissioner also revealed the plans to discuss a proposal with the French government through the Markets for Crypto Assets (MiCA):
“The MiCA rules will be the right tool to address concerns about consumer protection, market integrity and financial stability. This is very urgent given recent events.”
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