EU PIL, Blockchain, Smart and Ricardian Contracts 2.0

This study analyses blockchain technologies and smart contracts within the framework of European Union private international law. It shows that the EU has not recognized blockchain or smart contracts as autonomous legal institutions but regulates them through a technologically neutral and sector-based approach. From a private international law perspective, smart contracts are not independent connecting factors. They are technical tools for concluding and performing contracts, and the applicable law is therefore determined by the Rome I Regulation. Party autonomy remains central, and in the absence of a valid choice of law, the applicable law is identified by objective criteria such as the characteristic performance or, in residual cases, by the test of the closest connection. The decentralized and global nature of blockchain does not in itself displace these rules. The study identifies Ricardian contracts, and especially possible Ricardian 2.0, as a legally compatible architecture for smart contracts. By linking legally binding text with code and blockchain execution, they preserve choice of law, judicial interpretation and mandatory rules while enabling automated performance. The EU approach thus integrates new technology into the existing legal order rather than replacing it.