ASSESSMENTS

Could Blockchain Solve a Brexit Sticking Point?

Feb 27, 2018 | 19:26 GMT

When U.K. voters elected to leave the European Union in 2016, they also -- perhaps unwittingly -- put the peace agreement between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland at risk. But blockchain technology could help provide a solution.

When U.K. voters elected to leave the European Union in 2016, they also -- perhaps unwittingly -- put the peace agreement between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland at risk. But blockchain technology could help provide a solution.

(PETRAS MALUKAS/AFP/Getty Images)

Highlights

  • Blockchain, a technology that can track goods from start to finish, could eventually contribute to retaining the open border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
  • The technology is still in its early stages, and it will be years before it could be introduced at the scale necessary to control an international border.
  • For blockchain to be included in the Brexit process, British and European negotiators would have to buy time for a customs system based on the technology to be developed, tested and implemented.

Representatives on both sides of the arduous Brexit talks are confronting their biggest challenge yet: the future of the Irish border. In December 2017, the United Kingdom and the European Union agreed that the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland would remain an open one after Brexit was final, but that agreement was so vague that they are still working out the details of how to make that promise a reality. As negotiators look toward innovative new methods for maintaining the peace, they may discover that blockchain could contribute to a solution. ...

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