A few weeks before the expected adoption of a European Parliament position on the digital euro, MEPs in the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) stepped up their requests on Wednesday 3 June for clarification from European Central Bank (ECB) Executive Board member Piero Cipollone on the future of cash payments, communication with the general public and the consequences of the future digital euro for the European payments sector.
A project based on “freedom of choice”, is Mr Cipollone’s assurance. In response to concerns from several MEPs that the digital euro could accelerate the disappearance of cash, Mr Cipollone reiterated that the project should, on the contrary, preserve the coexistence of the two forms of public money.
“We are here to preserve the freedom of choice of Europeans”, he said, taking the view that the rise of digital payments could ultimately limit citizens’ ability to use central bank money in everyday transactions.
“Euro cash and the digital euro are the same money. They just use different technologies”, the ECB official stressed.
MEP Jonás Fernández (S&D, Spanish) said that “to give legitimacy to the digital euro, we also need to guarantee citizens the use of cash”, calling for the provisions on acceptance of cash to be strengthened.
Fabio De Masi (non-attached Member, German), for his part, relayed citizens’ concerns about the possible marginalisation of cash payments and the risks of increased dependence on major digital platforms. “There are widespread concerns in our constituencies that it would further contribute to driving out physical cash”, he commented.
Project suffering from lack of public awareness. MEP Nikos Papandreou (S&D, Greek) noted that fewer than half of European citizens were currently aware of the digital euro project. Mr Cipollone acknowledged that there was indeed a lack of awareness.
“It would have been completely inappropriate for us to go advertising a product that is not there and that has not received the blessing of the co-legislators”, the central banker said, while indicating that a broader communication campaign was now being prepared ahead of the launch of the pilot project scheduled for 2027.
European sovereignty. Several conversations focused on European sovereignty in the payments sector. Asked by rapporteur Fernando Navarrete (EPP, Spanish) about the technical standards selected for the digital euro, Mr Cipollone defended the creation of open European infrastructures, specifying that the ECB was relying heavily on standards already used by the market.
Stablecoins and a wholesale digital euro. The discussions also focused on the tokenisation of financial assets and the development of a digital euro intended for interbank transactions.
MEP Luděk Niedermayer (EPP, Czech) asked Mr Cipollone about the development of an interbank central bank digital euro (‘wholesale digital euro’) and how it would work alongside private stablecoins.
The central banker warned that, without the presence of central bank money in the new tokenised financial markets, they risked being dominated by private instruments.
“The fundamental issue is that everything has to be anchored in central bank money”, he said.
Parliamentary negotiations on the ‘single currency’ package are now in their final phase, with a view to a vote in committee and in Parliament plenary during the summer. (Original version in French by Bernard Denuit)