The Council of the European Union has supported the idea of disabling and suspending smart contracts – they will have to contain a “switch” in accordance with the revised data law (Data Act) of the European Union, reports CoinDesk.
The text of the document was agreed upon by the Council of the European Union (one of the two legislative bodies of the EU along with the European Parliament). Previously, a proposal for a “switch” for smart contacts” was submitted by the European Parliament. The final version of the law must now be agreed upon between these two bodies through the mediation of the European Commission – the highest executive body of the European Union responsible for drafting laws and implementing decisions of the European Parliament and the Council of Europe.
The proposed rules require smart contracts to be able to be interrupted or completely terminated. This caused concern in the blockchain community, since one of the fundamental principles of smart contracts is that they must be automatic and immutable, the publication notes.
These regulations should, in theory, only apply to smart contracts used by smart home appliances such as cars and refrigerators. According to lawmakers, the “switch” should give people more control over information from smart devices.
At the same time, community members note that developers may have difficulty complying with these standards. According to the founder of the European Crypto Initiative lobbying group, Marina Markezic, most smart contracts will find it difficult, if not impossible, to comply with the rules as they were drafted by parliament.
EU Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton also made it clear that he did not support the lawmakers’ version, saying it hindered the ability to set standards for smart contracts.
According to Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam professor Thibault Schrepel, the current version of the rules goes too far on the issue of “changeability” of what should, by definition, be unchanged. He noted that this jeopardizes smart contracts “to the point that no one can predict.”
Blockchain legal specialist Shrepel also drew attention to the fact that it is not clear from the text of the bill who should “turn off” smart contracts – developers, authorities, courts or other persons.