On Tuesday, 23 June, the MEPs on the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) will vote on the draft report on the digital euro that has been prepared by Fernando Navarrete (EPP, Spanish). The latest negotiations among the political groups have enabled several compromises to be made on the dossier’s most sensitive points.
The European Parliament’s negotiators have agreed on a digital euro that works both online and offline. However, offline payments would, at least initially, be limited to local transactions between private individuals or with a payment terminal.
A compromise was also reached on transaction fees: merchants should not pay any more than they do today, while offline payments will be free. “This compromise is fairer than the original proposal,” felt MEP Damian von Boeselager (Greens/EFA, German) on Thursday, 4 June, without specifying the exact amount of the envisaged costs.
“The largest merchants will not pay more than today, while many smaller businesses will finally benefit from lower fees. There is no more need to be afraid of excessive costs,” he stated in a note sent to Agence Europe.
Last April, the European social democrats had notably advocated that the ‘better off’ principle be adopted regarding the intermediary fee model (see EUROPE 13849/15 and 13851/16).
Moreover, the discussions also enabled progress to be made on the delicate issue of holding limits (see EUROPE 13854/15), which it will fall to the European Central Bank (ECB) to set within the framework defined by the EU’s co-legislators. (Original version in French by Bernard Denuit)