The European Central Bank (ECB) could be introduce the digital euro in three or four years. She said it Fabio Panettamember of the Executive Board of the ECB, in an interview with Les Echos, outlining the timeline of the next steps.
The European Commission will present its legislative proposal in June, which will define the regulatory framework for the digital euro, while in October the Board of directors of the ECB will decide whether to start a further phase aimed at the development and testing of solutions for the use of the new currency. This new phase could last two or three years. Then, if the Governing Council ei European legislators (Member States and European Parliament) decide to do so, the new instrument can be introduced.
Panetta spoke of the digital euro as “a risk-free European digital payment instrument, which everyone can use for free anywhere in the euro area: in shops, for online shopping or for payments between individuals”. The Italian economist highlighted that “the The European credit card payment market is dominated by two non-European intermediaries whose cards are also not accepted everywhere. A similar situation would be unimaginable in the United States.”
Regarding the concerns of some consumer associations about the use that the ECB could make of the data collected through the digital euro, he said: “The BCE will not have access to your personal data of those who will use the digital euro. As for the financial intermediaries that will distribute the digital euro, a balance will need to be found between safeguarding privacy and fighting money laundering and terrorist financing”.
Panetta explained that the ECB “will issue but not distribute the digital euro” and that “citizens will not have an account with the ECB or national central banks”. Furthermore, “the digital euro would be a means of payment, not a form of investment or savings” and could be set “a upper limit for each individual equal to 3,000 euros”, which is an amount close to the average gross wage in the euro area and would not pose a financial stability problem. (Ticker)