The digital euro: strengthening Europe’s payments ecosystem

In a speech at the event “The digital euro in Cyprus,” Piero Cipollone, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, highlighted the importance of the digital euro in strengthening Europe’s payments ecosystem.

He emphasized that the digital euro is part of the Eurosystem’s core tasks, aiming to provide a digital complement to cash and ensure monetary sovereignty in a rapidly digitalizing economy.

The digital euro would support retail and cross-border payments, reduce dependence on non-European solutions, and offer benefits such as offline functionality, privacy, and accessibility for vulnerable groups. It would also provide a European alternative to international card schemes, potentially lowering transaction costs for merchants.

The ECB is advancing technical preparations and legislative work, with the European Union’s agreement on the digital euro regulation representing a key step. The regulation preserves essential features like legal tender status and offline capabilities, while addressing concerns from European banks.

Collaboration with private sector payment providers is central to the project, which aims to create a shared European payment infrastructure. This would enable private companies to scale up their services across Europe, leveraging the digital euro as a common standard.

The ECB urges swift legislative adoption to maintain momentum and reduce dependence on foreign payment solutions. The digital euro is seen as a strategic tool to enhance Europe’s financial resilience and autonomy.

European leaders have called for accelerated legislative work to ensure timely implementation, with the goal of protecting the euro and facilitating digital payments for all Europeans.