The Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU has sent Member State delegations several working documents, obtained by EUROPE, on the European Commission’s proposal to provide a legal framework for the digital euro, should it be launched. One of these documents, which was examined by the working group on 24 October, concerns the limits on the use of the digital euro as a store of value and as a means of payment, as referred to in articles 15 and 16 of the legislative proposal (see EUROPE 13211/11).
Article 15 of the proposal regulates the principles governing the use of the digital euro as a store of value and as a means of payment.
Some Member States have had questions about the different wordings of the article.
On the one hand, the proposal put forward in Article 15(1) is that the use of the digital euro as a store of value “may” be limited. On the other hand, Article 15(2) of the proposal states that the level of certain fees paid by users, payment service providers and merchants “shall” be limited.
In the Commission’s view, the provision in 15(1) can be explained by the fact that it is the ECB’s responsibility to decide on the instruments used to limit the use of the euro as a store of value, and on the parameters and use of these instruments.
The Commission also considers that Article 15(2) on fees does not fall within the ECB’s remit. For the Commission, the ECB applies a methodology and publishes fees, but it is not the price regulator. The Commission points out that, as it emphasised in the recitals, the fees are a matter of monetary law and are justified by legal considerations and by the fact that the digital euro will be legal tender.
The Presidency points out that some Member States would like clarification on the reference to charges for individuals, as the basic services of the euro are supposed to be accessible free of charge.
In addition, some Member States wanted future legislation to issue a reminder of the role of the digital euro as a tool to protect the transmission of monetary policy in addition to its role as an instrument of monetary policy.
Article 16 regulates the limits on the use of the digital euro as a store of value
In its document, the Spanish Presidency also mentions, in particular, differences of opinion between Member States on a question of competence in this context. Controlling the overall quantity of digital euros in circulation is part of the definition and implementation of monetary policy, which is the responsibility of the ECB. But other States refer to the fact that financial stability is a competence shared between the Member States and the ECB. As a result, some believe that more weight should be given to the Member States in this area.
The Presidency has therefore sent out a series of questions to sound out the Member States regarding their concerns about these two articles.
Link to working document: https://aeur.eu/f/9bs (Original version in French by Émilie Vanderhulst)