The European Commission has already invested more than sixty million euros in the development of a blockchain platform, but it is not getting off the ground. Belgium is now trying to restart the project under his chairmanship.

It European Blockchain Services Infrastructure Consortium (EBSI) seemed to die a quiet death until Belgium temporarily took over the presidency in January. Our country, with State Secretary for Digitalization Mathieu Michel (MR) at the helm, still seems to have great confidence in the project. Michel has made it his personal mission to keep the project alive, writes Politico.

EBSI

First, a little history. The EBSI project was announced in 2018 with the aim of bringing the private and public sectors together around blockchain technology. The ambitions were initially high and many millions of euros were invested in the development of pilot projects.

Due to a number of circumstances, the platform never really got off the ground. People involved tell Politico that interest in the project quickly waned. Legal hurdles and poor cooperation between member states didn’t help either. The European Commission will significantly cut subsidies from 2022 to free up more money for another technology hype: artificial intelligence. The entire project has already cost Europe more than sixty million euros without achieving any results.

Rebirth in the Metaverse?

No sensible company would continue to spend so many millions of euros on a project that was not profitable, and EBSI also seemed to be dying a quiet death. But Michel, who describes himself as a strong supporter of blockchain, sees the Belgian presidency as an opportunity to breathe new life into the project. He also doesn’t see the money invested as lost.

“Even if you lose 800,000 euros, it’s not a waste of money compared to what it can bring,” the minister told Politico in January. “It’s not about deciding or even being sure that it will be the future. It’s about discovering and doing new things.”

Since blockchain no longer sounds as hip today as it did in 2018, Michel is hanging the project on a different hook: the metaverse. He believes that the project can be renamed a metaverse ecosystem. The project will be called Europeum and nine of the 27 member states have already confirmed their participation. The most influential member states France and Germany are not yet providing any support.

Now or never

However, there are still many reservations about Michel’s ambitions. Insiders describe Michel’s vision for the metaverse as “unclear.” “When Michel tries to explain what he’s doing, he can’t clarify it because it’s unclear,” an anonymous source told Politico. The fact that the European Union has already spent €387,000 on a “Metaverse gala” with six attendees won’t help.

Michel is running out of time to make his dream come true. Our country will have to pass the torch again in June and it seems unlikely that anyone will take the lead again after that. “It would be a shame if they gave full support to the project every now and then and then simply forgot about it. The firing process begins when the Belgian presidency ends,” another anonymous source told Politico.