Butter and butter money. L’European Union would like to become the driving force web 3 under construction, and in particular metavers to come. However, she would like, if possible, keep control over all these new virtual worlds. In a document leaked to the international press, the European Commission exposes the hopes and opportunities of the sector, but also the risks related to these new technologies.
How can innovation and private initiative be combined with respect for European values? This is the four-star challenge facing Ursula Von der Leyen’s teams. And it’s all happening in Brussels.
In the absence of a law or proposed law, the European Commission opted this time for a working documentbecause it fears legislating too soon in a field whose contours are still a little too vague. Patrick Gradyeditor-in-chief of Brussels-based magazine Metaverse EU, has a front-row seat to all this.
And, for him, Europe procrastinates a little after going too fast on certain issues. He takes the example of the recent Data Governance Actwhich is on the verge of nipping in the bud european smart contracts. It’s for these reasons that continental leaders are taking their time with a subject as delicate as metavers.
In a note published last summer, the commissioner in charge of the Single Market, Industry, Digital Technologies, Defence and Space, shared his views on the following topics fears to see the private sector to take control of this sector once and for all.
Thierry BretonThierry Breton, that’s who we’re talking about, is a major French business leader appointed to the post in 2019. Since then, he’s been overseeing the destiny of Web 3 in Europe, and it’s a tough job. Indeed, the spectre of web 2entirely in the pay of the GAFAM and American BATX is hovering over Europe, leading its leaders to fear that the Chinese loss of control over these new virtual territories.
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… but would like to apply European values to it
However, aware of the sector’s enormous potential, the Commission is keen to take matters into its own hands, aided by European lobbying groups working towards a continental preference in this area. Here’s what an official from one of these lobbies, called DigitalEurope :
« Virtual worlds are increasingly part of a modern digital industry, and Europe excels in this. So we’d like to see a strategy that aims to support that. »
But at risks loss of sovereignty are added to those of a non-compliance european rights A spokesman for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an American NGO specializing in the protection of Internet freedoms, confirms this:
« These technologies present substantial risks to Human Rights and could continue the march forward, towards increasingly invasive collection of sensitive data and ubiquitous surveillance by governments and corporations, even going into people’s thoughts and emotions. »
Evil tongues will explain that this is already the case with web 2, and that there’s no reason for it to be any different with its successor, web 3. Not wrong!
Towards global governance so as not to isolate Europe?
That said, the mistakes of the past can also be used to build a better future. And that’s what the European Commissioners in charge of this dossier must be thinking. For them, there is no doubt about the benefits of the technology, but above all about the need to control it :
« Virtual worlds offer unprecedented opportunities in many areas of society, such as health, education and culture. This technological shift also implies new forms of global governance on issues such as technological standards, identity management, censorship and surveillance. »
In order to reflect on all this, the EU is giving itself a few more months to cover all the issues, while encouraging the emergence of poles of reflection and initiatives. Visit European Commission seems well aware of the colossal stakes involved. But it now remains to be seen whether this European mountain of good intentions will give birth to a little regulatory mouse, the EU’s secret.
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