Speakers
Objectives
The digital euro project is nearing the end of its preparation phase, with the ECB expected to decide in late 2025 whether to move forward. Technical progress has been made—rulebook development, provider sourcing, and a preparatory platform testing offline payments and conditional transactions—while the legislative process lags, with key questions still open on holding limits, offline functionality and governance. Beyond legal and technical hurdles, the project must also meet strategic goals: reinforcing monetary sovereignty, ensuring resilience of the European payments system, and providing a widely usable public money option in the digital age. A central challenge will be adoption, as surveys show persistent scepticism among citizens. At the same time, the global rise of stablecoins and private digital currencies is accelerating, intensifying the need for a credible public alternative. This session will review the project’s timeline, the status of legal and technical work, and the critical success factors for user acceptance, financial stability and strategic positioning in a fast-evolving global payments landscape.
Points of discussion
- What compromises are still needed in the legislative process, and what are the risks if no legal framework is in place by the end of the preparation phase?
- What conditions—technical, financial, user-related, and in light of the rapid growth of global stablecoins—must be fulfilled to ensure that the digital euro is adopted, interoperable, and delivers clear added value for Europe’s payment ecosystem?