Starting the Debate on a Digital Euro

The European Central Bank (ECB) has started to make the case for a digital euro. At the recent Merchant Payments Ecosystem conference in Berlin, Evelien Witlox, Programme Director Digital Euro at the ECB, said that a digital euro, while complementing cash, would strengthen Europe’s strategic sovereignty by reducing dependence on non-European payment providers and offer another form of trusted and secure transactions for people in Europe.

The proposed digital euro is being designed to operate online and offline, with privacy and resilience features to prevent fraud and secure transactions.

On the future of the digital euro, Witlox stated that project teams interacted with market holders, the European Retail Payments Board, civil organisations, and central banks during the investigation phase to design the digital currency. The digital euro has been in the preparation phase since November 2023 and is being developed alongside regulation. The next phase will likely begin in 2025.