The ‘Mediterranean Seven’ Want to Use DLT in Various Sectors

On a positive note, a group called ‘Mediterranean seven’ led by France and Malta came into existence on December 4 to promote the use of blockchain technology.

The group consists of seven EU nations namely Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, and Spain. The countries have signed a formal agreement, and they will work actively to enhance the use of distributed ledger technology (DLT) in various industries like education, mobility, shipping, company registry, healthcare, and others.

The new agreement, called “Southern European Countries Ministerial Declaration on Distributed Ledger Technologies,” was signed December 4 at a European Union transport ministers meeting. The declaration provided by the countries read:

“This can result not only in the enhancement of e-government services but also increased transparency and reduced administrative burdens, better customs collection and better access to public information.”

For them, the digital sphere is “seen as an ideal policy area to embark on further cooperation.” The EU countries part of the collaboration believe emerging technologies like DLT, artificial intelligence (AI), internet of things (IoT) and 5G are “instruments that can help our countries transform their economies and society into truly digital ones and become a leading region in this sector.”

By implementing in several ecosystems, including in the government services, the plan would also to improve democratization effort.

Effect on Crypto

Malta has always been favourable towards the use of cryptocurrency. This is the reason perhaps why it also houses the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance.

That said, Malta is known for its practical regulatory frameworks. This has led major cryptocurrency-related start-ups to migrate to the country.

Since Malta has stood with cryptocurrency, it is expected that the country’s involvement in the group will have a positive effect on the European cryptocurrency as it is believed that they will indirectly lead the group.

The group, Mediterranean Seven, was formed after the government officials in the G20 forum consisting of the largest economies in the worlds, demanded a way to monitor and regulate cryptocurrencies.

Silvio Schembri, who is the innovation minister of Malta and has played a key role in converting Mala to the Blockchain Island, said,

“Malta is the first world legislator to offer a regulatory environment for all blockchain technology. We are not only interested in cryptocurrencies.”

On the same lines, France is also quite a supporter of blockchain and recently approved an initial coin offering (ICO) regulation in September and emerged to be the first ICO hub of Europe.

A Ray of Hope

Setting aside Malta and Switzerland, most of the EU nations are significantly behind other markets such as the US, Singapore, South Korea, and Japan and Singapore. The last two are the blockchain-related business hubs, while the first three are home to the largest global cryptocurrency exchange volume.

It is expected then that the formation of Mediterranean Seven would help Europe gain the upper hand in the market.