Euro area finance ministers took stock, on Monday 16 January, of the ECB-led project to create a digital euro, reaffirming their political support for the stakeholders involved at European and national level.
In a statement adopted on the same day, they set out a number of major principles to guide the continuation of the work, while the Governing Council of the Frankfurt monetary institute is expected to decide in the autumn whether or not to enter the implementation phase of the project.
These principles include complementarity and convertibility with physical currency, security, privacy protection according to the risks involved, stimulation of innovation in the payments sector, interoperability with other digital currencies from third countries and consideration of environmental implications.
The final decision to create a digital euro by 2026 will be taken after the possible implementation phase.
In the meantime, the European Commission will present “in May” a European regulatory framework to establish the digital euro, said one of its three executive vice-presidents, Valdis Dombrovskis, on his arrival at the Eurogroup.
See the Eurogroup statement: https://aeur.eu/f/4wp (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)