Key Takeaways
- The ECB is advancing digital euro legislation, aiming for a 12-month pilot in 2027 and a 2029 launch.
- The CBDC aims to unify Europe’s fragmented payment systems and reduce reliance on foreign card firms.
- Officials promote the digital euro to counter rising stablecoin use and protect monetary sovereignty.
ECB Lays out Digital Euro Roadmap, Targets 2029 for Potential Issuance
Europe is working fast to complete the necessary steps to test and issue the digital euro, Europe’s own central bank digital currency (CBDC).
Piero Cipollone, a member of the executive board of the European Central Bank (ECB), has detailed the bank’s digital strategy to ensure Europe’s sovereignty regarding its payment solutions, with the digital euro as a tool.
On Thursday, during a keynote speech offered at the eighth International Conference of Regional Card Schemes and Retail Financial Market Infrastructures, Cipollone stressed that the digital euro comes to solve Europe’s patchwork payment system, where 13 countries rely on non-European companies for in-store card payments.
Cipollone explained that the legislative process for the digital euro is advancing, with negotiations between the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union, and the European Commission currently happening to reach preliminary agreements.
“The digital euro is not merely a fix for existing shortcomings in the euro area payments landscape. It is a solution for the future. It will provide a platform to innovate and enhance the quality and breadth of payment services,” Cipollone declared.
Negotiations are expected to conclude this year. He estimated the digital euro could be issued in 2029, if negotiations conclude successfully by year-end.
Before, a pilot to test the digital euro would start in the second half of 2027, running uninterrupted for 12 months. The pilot would not only serve to test technology, but also to harmonize the interactions between service providers, merchants, central banks, infrastructure operators, and users, with 36 service providers selected to participate in this preliminary phase.
ECB President Christine Lagarde had referred to the pilot before, hinting at a 2028-2029 bloc-wide launch of the currency, but pointed out that this would depend on the regulation being established before year-end.
As head of the ECB, Lagarde has promoted the digital euro as an alternative to the rise of stablecoins, warning about the dangers of the rising adoption of these tools for the monetary sovereignty of the region, as their increased usage would make central banks unable to apply an effective monetary policy, since these remain outside the constraints of the traditional fiat system.
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