Ukraine Joins European Blockchain Partnership (EBP) Despite Non-EU Country

• Yarmolenko said the relationship was a method to improve EU links.
• Zhmerenetsky said that the EU-wide blockchain alliance would help Ukrainian migrants.

This week, Ukraine joined the European Blockchain Partnership (EBP), a cross-border public service project developed by 27 EU member states after Norway and Liechtenstein.

EU’s Digital Economic Sphere

On June 17, Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation stated that the nation would become an observer in the EBP. This interstate blockchain network relationship will be expanded with other nations in Ukraine’s long-term objective of joining the EU’s digital economic sphere.

A letter from Oleksii Zhmerenetskyi, Parliamentary group leader for Blockchain4Ukraine, and Konstantin Yarmolenko, CEO of Virtual Assets of Ukraine, to the president of the European Commission was sent in July 2021. The letter stated Ukraine’s desire to join the European Blockchain Partnership and the European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (EBSI). Von der Leyen subsequently approved Ukraine’s participation in the EBP as an observer.

Ukraine hopes to become a full member of the EBP after working as an observer on blockchain pilot use cases. New cross-border governmental services, such as verification of educational credentials/diplomas and identification credentials, refugee/asylum registration and assistance, will be provided to Ukrainian people via additional blockchain collaborations, Yarmolenko said.

To clarify, Yarmolenko said the relationship was a method to improve EU links, saying, “I’d even call it blockchain integration with EU.” It is worth noting that Zhmerenetsky pointed out that the EU-wide blockchain alliance would help Ukrainian migrants by reducing the recognition of their papers when applying for higher education and driving licenses in Europe.

EU Commissioner for Financial Services, Financial Stability and Capital Markets Union Mairead McGuinness recently said, “Regulating all crypto-assets — whether they’re unbacked crypto-assets or so-called stablecoins.” The EU commissioner also said that he intends to meet with the French government to discuss a proposal through Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA).

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