The aim of the event is to bring together policymakers, legislators, industry representatives and other leading stakeholders in the field of blockchain and smart contracts to disseminate ELI’s output and engage in discourse on how the proposals elaborated on in ELI’s Principles can be implemented in practice.

The High Level Forum saw representatives of several European Ministries of Justice as well as of the judiciary, members of the European Commission, the European Land Registry Association, the European Union of Judicial Officers, the UK’s Financial Markets Law Committee and the Law Commission of England and Wales as well as industry leaders come together to discuss the significance of ELI’s Principles and their implementations. A full list of attendees is available here.

ELI was encouraged by the feedback received with one participant stating how ‘remarkable a feat it is for the Reporters to have distilled the Principles from so many different blockchain types’ and another congratulating the ‘Reporters for a great piece of work that will be useful in helping people in the UK to think of the legal issues identified in the Principles’. Those present also applauded the Principles’ level of abstraction and their breadth.

ELI is grateful to the drafters of its Principles on Blockchain Technology, Smart Contracts and Consumer Protection, Professor Sjef van Erp (University of Amsterdam) and Dr Martin Hanzl Pelzmann Gall Größ Rechtsanwälte), as well as to all those that attended the event. Their input is valued and will be reflected upon.