n April 18, the European Commission (EC) published a pre-information notice for a pilot project mandated by the European Parliament, consisting of a “Blockchain Observatory and Forum” (Project). A pre-information notice is published prior to a tender for services, which in this case is a service contract for setting up the Observatory.

The Project is expected to increase technical expertise and regulatory capacity for blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT). DLT has been gaining increased attention in mainstream financial services due to its potential application to a variety of processes, including client identification and settlement.

The stated purpose of the Project is to inform and assist the EC in understanding what role—if any—European public authorities should play in encouraging the development and up take of these technologies, and to formulate related policy recommendations.

A copy of the pre-information notice is available here.