On 11 July 2023, the European Commission unveiled its vision for
Web 4.0, often referred to as the 'Metaverse', and virtual
worlds
Context
This communication follows on from the State of the Union by
Ursula van der Leyen (EU Commission President) in which she
announced new initiatives in the digital era, in particular
"on virtual worlds, such as [the] metaverse". During the
first semester of 2023, the Commission also hosted the European
Citizens' Panel on Virtual Worlds, which resulted in 23
recommendations, as well as published a Call for evidence on
virtual worlds. The Commission has also recently published more
in-depth studies on AR, VR, XR and virtual worlds. And the
Commission is not alone, the EU Parliament, the Council and even
the Belgian legislature are currently working on understanding and
shaping the legal contours of the Metaverse.
