ECB’s Cipollone: Digital Euro to Strengthen Europe’s Financial Sovereignty

23 September 2024

By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Executive Board member Piero Cipollone on Monday preached the virtues for Europe of a digital euro.

In a statement at the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament, Cipollone said that ‘a digital euro would strengthen Europe’s financial sovereignty and resilience because it would be built with European technology and infrastructure’.

‘It would empower Europe to independently develop and manage digital payment solutions, supporting the further deepening of the Single Market’, he said.

Consumers could use a digital euro for all payments and everywhere in the euro area, as well as online, according to Cipollone.

Merchants would also benefit from a digital euro because the fees they paid to banks for processing payments would be capped, he observed.

‘A digital euro would thus narrow the gap between what smaller and larger merchants are charged for digital payments’, he said.

Asked about the cost of a digital euro, Cipollone said that the ECB was ‘pretty sure we will be able to make it cheaper than the international card scheme because we are not a profit-making organisation and we will avoid the scheme fee’.

For banks, a digital euro would also open a new source of revenue by allowing them to provide value-added services to their customers, he said.

‘Introducing a digital euro across the euro area would take time, but it is key for Europe’s future’, he concluded.