At the initial request of the European Parliament, the European Commission asked me to write a report on smart contracts’ legal environment. As it appears, the deployment of smart contracts within the European zone could fluidify economic transactions. It also risks fragmenting the Digital Single Market (“DSM”). This conundrum calls for a constructive response to preserve both the benefits brought by smart contracts and a strong DSM. Against this background, this report adopts a “law + technology” approach. It suggests combining law and technology to develop solutions that encourage the evolution of smart contracts (rather than hindering it) in a direction that preserves and reinforces the DSM. For this purpose, I explore — through 20 proposals — which regulations are to be changed, suggest new ones, and show concrete examples of how technology (such as AI) could assist consumers.
The report is freely accessible over here. Thank you!
