The role of the digital euro in a global and regional context
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.60054/PEU.2025.12.13-24Keywords:
digital euro, digitalisation, central bank, paymentsAbstract
The digital transformation affected how we live, work, trade, travel and use different services. It also affected how citizens and businesses interact with governments, how we make our everyday payments and transactions. Step by step, it also influences the way monetary policy will be conducted in the future. The efforts to introduce a digital euro in the EU aim to respond to all those changes and transformations. The current paper will describe the concept, the role and the project itself for the future digital euro. It presents a large number of opportunities, including for Bulgaria, in relation to the future digital legal tender and means of payment. But the digital euro is associated with many challenges and risks, which will also be described. There are still many uncertainties about the design and concrete characteristics of the digital euro. However, one thing is certain. After its introduction, the digital and financial inclusion, the payment landscape and the ECB monetary policy will be substantially different.
References
Balz, B. (2025). “The digital euro: reshaping the future of Europe’s financial landscape”, the EUROFI magazine, April 2025, p. 172.
Blavet, Yv. (2025). “What’s in it for the consumer”, the EUROFI magazine, April 2025, p. 176.
Boston Consulting Group (2024). The digital euro could herald a new era of innovation. Available at: https://www.bcg.com/publications/2024/digital-euro-could-herald-new-era-of-innovation (Accessed: 01.05). 2025.
Choi, S., Kim, B., Kim, Y., & Kwon, O. (2023). Central Bank Digital Currency and Privacy: A Randomized Survey Experiment. BIS Working Papers No 1147, Monetary and Economic Department, November 2023.
Cipollone, P. (2024). “Why Europe must safeguard its global currency status”, Financial Times, 11 June 2024.
Cipollone, P. (2025). “The role of the digital euro in digital payments and finance”, Contribution to Bancaria by the Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, based on remarks at the Crypto Asset Lab Conference on 17 January 2025, published on 28 February 2025.
Demertzis, M. & Martins, C. (2023). “Progress with the Digital Euro”, Intereconomics, Review of European Economic Policy, Volume 58, pp. 195-200.
ECB Economic Bulletin (2025). Issue 2/2025.
European Central Bank (2024). “FAQs on a digital euro”. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
European Central Bank (2025a). Speech by Piero Cipollone, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB “Enhancing cross-border payments in Europe and beyond”. Available at: https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/key/date/2025/html/ecb.sp (Accessed: 25 April 2025).
European Central Bank (2025b). Report on card schemes and processors. Available at:https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/2025/html/ecb (Accessed: 25 April 2025).
European Commission (2023a). Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the establishment of the digital euro, COM(2023) 369 final.
European Commission (2023b). Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the provision of digital euro services by payment services providers incorporated in Member States whose currency is not the euro and amending Regulation (EU) 2021/1230 of the European Parliament and the Council, COM(2023) 368 final.
European Commission (2023c). Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the legal tender of euro banknotes and coins, COM(2023) 364 final.
European Commission (2023d). “Digital euro package”. Available at: https://finance.ec.europa.eu/publications/digital-euro-package_en.
German Law Journal (2022). Volume 23, Issue 9, December 2022. “The Digital Euro and Energy Considerations: Can the ECB Introduce the Digital Euro Considering the Potential Energy Requirements?”, pp. 1246-1265. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/glj.2022.78.
Investopedia. “What Is a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)?”. Available at: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/central-bank-digital-currency-cbdc.asp (Accessed: 10 April 2025).
Kretschmer, M. (2025). “Who controls Europe’s payments? The sovereign case for a Digital Euro”, Finance Watch, 20 March 2025.
Müller, M. (2025). “The digital euro: future-proofing payments in Europe”, the EUROFI magazine, April 2025, p. 173.
OECD (2023). “Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) and democratic values”. OECD Business and Finance Policy Papers, No. 31, OECD Publishing, Paris. https://doi.org/10.1787/f3e70f1f-en.