Digital euro

[14] After preliminary planning and presenting public consultation results in early 2021,[15] the ECB launched the digital euro project in July 2021 to prepare for its potential introduction.

The research, which is scheduled to run until autumn 2023, aims to shed light on the distribution to merchants and citizens, the impact on markets and the necessary European legislation.

[17] In September 2022, the ECB announces a collaboration with five companies (Amazon, CaixaBank, Worldline, EPI and Nexi) to develop potential user interfaces for the digital euro.

[18] Burkhard Balz, a member of the Bundesbank's Executive Board, sees the digital euro not least as a means of strengthening European sovereignty in payments.

[22] In January 2023, the ECB invited experts in the field of payments/finance to express their interest in contributing to the development of a set of rules for the digital euro.

The market research had shown that there was a sufficiently large pool of European vendors capable of developing digital euro solutions.

The question remains whether an offline solution that meets the Eurosystem's requirements and achieves the necessary scale can be implemented in the short to medium term using existing technology.

[24] On 18 October 2023 the ECB announced that a decision had been made to move forward with preparation phase, including a public pilot and aiming for a possible launch by 2025-2026.

In a position paper published in February 2023, the private banks emphasize the evolution of cash, their role in its issuance, its openness to innovation, and their desire to minimize the risks of its introduction.

[40][41] The European Commission has submitted a legislative proposal for the introduction of a digital euro that should be made available as a legal tender not only to banks, but above all to the general public.