## In praise of innovation

Do you believe, like most people do (including myself) in **the advancement of the human kind**, in reducing, or even **eradicating poverty and hunger**, **bettering the health and well-being** of the greatest number, in giving all humans access to **good education**, **affordable energy**, **clean water and sanitation**, and other similar, desirable objectives typically grouped as the _"UN Development Goals"_?
![](https://images.ecency.com/DQme2u84ox9sZ1CJTBgpFyHW3pNxHnUhMw3rg5FJAX9xRCe/sdg.jpg)<sup>[source](https://www.abeautifulgreen.com/en/the-sustainable-development-goals/)</sup>

If you do, then you must **celebrate human inventiveness**, the ability of humans to **uncover nature's secrets** and come up with ways to **harness its forces** in order to find solutions to humanity's problems. To progress toward, and hope to reach some or all of those goals, we can only rely on our ability for innovation. 

**"Harnessing knowledge in order to creatively solve human problems** is what we usually call innovation.  It is innovation, whether **social** or **technological** that brought about the current era of _historically unprecedented prosperity and well-being_.

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmXfRtjHEstSAhgPgZiAMNeYmTSPKxHGw868gXrrEF5oAd/inventiveness_innovation.jpg)<sup>[source](https://medium.com/@akarshagru/creativity-and-innovation-books-78bf5034af29)</sup>

Speaking of innovation in all domains, the **"rule of law"** is probably the **greatest social innovation** of mankind. The rule of law has been the main pillar allowing the transition from the feudal order to **modern nation states**. To quote Yuval Noah Harari's [_"Homo Deus"_](https://www.ynharari.com/fr/book/homo-deus/) 

>_Germany, France and Japan established gigantic systems of education, health and welfare, yet these systems were aimed to **strengthen the nation** rather than ensure individual well-being. [...] The aim wasn't to make people happy, but to make the nation stronger. **The country needed sturdy soldiers** and workers [...]_ 

At present, it has been argued that **the nation state, designed in an era of confrontations over territories and ressources, is an imperfect tool to provide happiness, prosperity and well-being for its citizens.**

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmaquwvMm67NSAdqGNznygSas3obUwb6mXEhzKrcaaBff5/rule_of_law_explainer_final.png)<sup>[source](https://www.ruleoflaw.org.au/what-is-the-rule-of-law/)</sup>

## The European Union: a result of legal and institutional innovation

 The **European Union (EU)** itself is the product of legal and institutional innovation. It has been initially established as a **solution to an unwanted side-effect of** a world divided in competing **nation states**: the prevalence of increasingly **destructive wars**. The EU has been extremly successful at the task of preventing war among its members and has gradually been transformed and overloaded with ever expanding objectives, including ["the well-being of its people"](https://ecency.com/leofinance/@sorin.cristescu/blockchain-regulation-versus-innovation-in).

In the past decades the rhythm of **disruptive technological innovation**  greatly accelerated. The prolonged period of peace in the Western world has likely been a contributing factor to this increase in the speed of innovation. Many books have been written about the impact of the technological progress on modern societies. Some have argued that we have entered a **digital age** and the EU has acknoweldged it by making **["A Europe fit for the digital age"](https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/priorities-2019-2024/europe-fit-digital-age_en)** the second priority of the 2019-2024 European Commission.

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmZ6rkFeuiFnLvV232wPTxvAHVuyYVyMY3hmZ12gWWvAXB/europe_digital_age2.jpg)<sup>[source](https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/priorities-2019-2024/europe-fit-digital-age_en)</sup>

## The accelerating pace of technological innovation

Like other technological upheavals in the previous centuries, **digital power** has become **concentrated** in a handful of incredibly powerful **corporations** which have been labelled **"GAFAM"** and more recently **"The Magnificent Seven"** (with Nvidia and Tesla added). 

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmRJErDBkRD2a5QSU8HuhbMyidsgdHcVqui5FvssPsCm6N/magnificentseven.jpg)<sup>[source](https://www.wsj.com/finance/stocks/tech-stocks-nvidia-microsoft-rise-288c36d1)</sup>

While a lot of early-stage innovation still happens in Europe, **the Old Continent's position as home for the companies that matter has drastically, and worryingly eroded.** With wave after wave of technological innovation **the EU has repeatedly missed the opportunity of nurturing a global standard-setting champion**. 

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmYPyJXwuDAWBNzqXjEMbj13yuxjCCYSMdj8SDVtf8FSSL/allthree.png)<sup>[source](https://www.economist.com/briefing/2021/06/05/once-a-corporate-heavyweight-europe-is-now-an-also-ran-can-it-recover-its-footing)</sup>

Europe had to resort to regulation in order to uphold and promote its values in the digital realm. But **regulation comes a distant second** to actually being at the forefront and giving the direction of the digital transformation. It is reactive and has other serious drawbacks which will not be addressed here. 

In order to ["strengthen Europe's digital sovereignty and set standards, rather than following those of others"](https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/priorities-2019-2024/europe-fit-digital-age_en) **this trend must first be reversed.**

### Blockchain - when institutional innovation meets technology
I am a blockchain expert who, three years ago enrolled in Master's degree in EU Law. For my final dissertation I decided to [focus on the recent Regulation (EU) 2023/1114](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/1114/oj), better known as "Markets in Crypto Assets" or MiCA. 

When [analysing it, I took a particular angle](https://peakd.com/leofinance/@sorin.cristescu/blockchain-regulation-versus-innovation-in). My postulates included:
-  "innovation is the essential driver of long-run economic growth" and 
- "having large, standard-setting firms in Europe matters to increasing prosperity and well-being for Europe's people"

MiCA itself, in its explanatory memorandum reckons that **“it is crucial for Europe to reap all the benefits of the digital age and to strengthen its industrial and innovation capacity”** and also aims at **“positioning Europe at the forefront of blockchain innovation and uptake.”** Thus, my angle was not unwarranted, I wasn't looking at MiCAR to achieve something it did not aimed itself to achieve.

## Is the EU fit for rapid technolgical innovation?

The EU, as **legal and political construct**, has demonstrably been perfectly fit for its purpose of maintaining peace and increasing the prosperity and well-being of its people in the last decades. But the rapid pace of technology is not giving anyone rest. Our societies are being upended. 

Hence the underlying question of my dissertation: **is the EU fit to maintain the prosperity and well-being of its 400+ million citizens against the social upheaval caused by technological innovation?**

I defended my dissertation in July 2023 and [received my Master's degree](https://peakd.com/diploma/@sorin.lite/mon-diplome-de-master-en). I was invited to publish my work, which I plan to do, in the very near future, here.

It starts with the [Table of Contents (TOC)](https://ecency.com/law/@sorin.cristescu/1-blockchain-regulation-versus-innovation) and I will publish one sub-chapter every 2 days.