ECB official discusses digital euro approval and future plans

On July 10, 2026, Piero Cipollone, Member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank (ECB), was interviewed by Élisabeth Montaufray-Bureau regarding the digital euro.

The European Parliament voted nearly 70% in favor of the digital euro, recognizing its legitimacy and democratic backing. The project aims to safeguard Europeans’ payment freedom and address the current lack of European-controlled payment infrastructure.

Concerns about privacy and surveillance were addressed by designing the digital euro to offer offline privacy comparable to cash and encrypted online transactions, with only the user’s bank knowing the details.

The digital euro is a technical project with geopolitical benefits, ensuring European control over payment infrastructure amid global dependencies. A pilot will start in September 2027, involving merchants, banks, and ECB staff, with over 50 applicants and 36 selected participants, including French providers BPCE and Worldline.

The business model involves the ECB setting rules without charging scheme or transaction fees, creating savings for merchants and banks. Merchants will be required to accept the digital euro, with fee caps protecting them.

Security measures are aligned with existing Eurosystem payment systems, which meet high cybersecurity standards. The estimated development cost is around €1.3 billion, with annual operating costs of approximately €320 million, offset by seigniorage revenues.

The digital euro differs from solutions like Wero by being central bank money, accepted across Europe, and supporting in-store, person-to-person, and online payments. It will facilitate the expansion of digital euro-compatible solutions and reduce transaction fees.

Regarding monetary policy, the ECB plans to raise interest rates at the end of July to counteract inflation driven by energy shocks, mainly oil prices. The ECB aims to prevent second-round effects by maintaining inflation expectations anchored at 2%, ensuring inflation returns to target over the medium term.