Set and starting in 2023, the European Regulatory Sandbox (ERS) aims to annually support 20 blockchain-based use cases so as to connect them with “relevant national and European regulators for a safe and constructive dialogue on the most relevant regulatory issues”. The use cases selection criteria is based on the maturity of the project, legal/regulatory relevance, and their contribution to the EU’s wider policy priorities.
The Sandbox initiative is open to companies, start-ups, scale-ups, and public entities with a validated proof of concept. And, each year, the most innovative regulator part of the Sandbox will be rewarded with a prize. A panel of independent academics represent the consortium overseeing both the selection and award process.
In other words, ERS represents a lever for the development of best practices and lessons learned in the Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT) – involving blockchain or Web3 – sector. On the one hand, best practices reports will help regulators gain knowledge on blockchain practices. On the other hand, these reports are to help identify regulatory and legal issues, so as to adopt an appropriate legal framework regarding cutting edge technologies.
This collaboration between regulators and innovators hence promises to be fruitful to boost emergence of new DLT-solutions. It is to note that the European Commission appears to be truly invested in the digital transformation of Europe’s society and economy, as the ERS project is part of the Digital Europe Program. The latter aims at paving the way for a more digital world, while thriving to make Europe greener.
First call for ERS application is open until April 14, 2023.
Find more information about ERS on the dedicated portal.
