The European Central Bank (ECB) has renewed its campaign to launch a digital euro, but the effort is once again meeting resistance from EU lawmakers who cite concerns over privacy and potential disruption to the banking sector.
ECB board member Piero Cipollone told the European Parliament’s economic committee on Thursday that a digital euro would guarantee all Europeans access to a free, universally accepted means of payment, even during major disruptions.
Lawmakers, however, voiced skepticism, warning that the system might fail to adequately protect user privacy and could undermine commercial banks if citizens shift to central bank–backed accounts.
The legislative proposal for a central bank digital currency (CBDC), first introduced in 2023, has stalled in Parliament due to political hesitation and the impact of the 2024 elections.
A crisis-proof payment option
Cipollone emphasized that much of the EU’s digital payments infrastructure currently depends on non-European providers, raising concerns about autonomy in emergencies. He framed the digital euro as a safeguard against cyberattacks or outages and pointed to U.S. moves to advance dollar-backed stablecoins as a sign of growing international momentum.
Cipollone argued that a digital euro would “complement physical cash, which remains vital for resilience and inclusion,” while noting that digital payments have become “essential to daily life” — a service governments are expected to guarantee.
Lawmakers raise privacy and banking concerns
Several lawmakers cautioned that a central bank–issued digital currency could threaten privacy and draw deposits away from commercial banks, since an ECB-backed account would appear to be the safer option.
On privacy, Cipollone insisted the central bank “will not know anything about the payer and the payee,” and said an offline version of the digital euro would offer protections “as good as cash.”
But critics remained unconvinced. Pierre Pimpie of the right-wing Eurosceptic Patriots for Europe group warned that “accounts in private banks could be emptied” and objected to the ECB holding authority over account caps, which he said could be raised in a crisis.
Cipollone countered that limits would be set “on the basis of rigorous analysis,” stressing that in a true financial crisis, corporations and wealthy individuals would likely move quickly into foreign stablecoins anyway. “The digital euro at that point would be the least of our problems,” he said.
Timeline: law by 2026, launch by 2029
Cipollone said the ECB is working on the assumption that legislation for a digital euro will be adopted by the second quarter of 2026.
Approval is required from three EU bodies — the European Parliament, the European Commission, and the European Council — a process that could take months.
Once the law is passed, likely no earlier than mid-2026, the ECB would still need to build and test the digital euro’s infrastructure. That process could take up to three years, making 2029 the earliest possible launch date if no further delays arise.
