ECB Decides to Take Digital Euro Project Into Preparation Phase

18 October 2023

By Isabel Teles – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – The European Central Bank Governing Council on Wednesday said it had decided to move on to the preparation phase of the Digital Euro Project as of November 1st.

According to a press release posted to the website of the ECB, the decision was made after the completion of the investigation phase that started two years ago.

‘The launch of the preparation phase is not a decision on whether to issue a digital euro’, the ECB duly noted. ‘That decision will only be considered by the Governing Council once the European Union’s legislative process has been completed.’

‘We envisage a digital euro as a digital form of cash that can be used for all digital payments, free of charge, and that meets the highest privacy standards’, ECB President Christine Lagarde said. ‘It would coexist alongside physical cash, which will always be available, leaving no one behind.’

The digital euro was designed to be accessible to citizens and businesses, and free for basic use of individuals, with costs related to scheme management and settlement processing beard by the Eurosystem.

‘A digital euro would increase the efficiency of European payments and contribute to Europe’s strategic autonomy’, ECB Executive Board member Fabio Panetta said.

‘Today, the digital euro enters a decisive phase - now the most important thing is to ensure that security, data protection and the best possible functioning are guaranteed’, ECB Governing Council member and Austrian National Bank Governor Robert Holzmann said.

The preparation phase would include testing and experimentation, during which the ECB said it would ‘continue to engage with the public and all stakeholders.’

‘After two years, the Governing Council will decide whether to move to the next stage of preparations, to pave the way for the possible future issuance and roll-out of a digital euro’, the ECB said.