Yesterday, Brussels presented a legislative framework for the digital euro, which it intends to launch in a project that raises conspiracy theories and collides with the hostility of banks without responding to the actual aspirations of European citizens.
“At the present time, the digital euro appears to be a solution in search of a problem,” German European MP Marcus Ferber commented sarcastically, adding that the European Commission and the European Central Bank should “explain convincingly why we need it.”
What is new that the digital euro will offer at a time when the use of electronic currencies has spread for decades through a variety of financial services such as credit cards and, more recently, payment applications on mobile phones?
The European Central Bank believes that the increasing reliance on digital currencies in payments, especially with the boom in electronic commerce, necessitates the creation of a digital euro, although it will face increasing competition from cryptocurrencies or from digital copies of other foreign currencies.
The European Central Bank, which is headquartered in Frankfurt in July 2021, launched a study phase for the project, with the aim of presenting the electronic version of the single European currency, starting from 2027 or 2028.
The draft text, whose content was revealed on Wednesday, establishes the necessary legal framework to achieve this, provided that the project will then be negotiated over a period of months with member states and the European Parliament.
The digital euro raises concerns fueled by disinformation campaigns, as some assert on social networks that it aims to abolish the cash currency to allow generalized surveillance of citizens by controlling their purchases and financial transactions.
But the reality is that the electronic currency will only be an additional and optional option for payment, in addition to the option to pay in cash. Also, this option, which depends on payment by card or mobile phone, will also allow the feature of offline payment, which keeps the user name confidential. The digital euro will be legally valid in the twenty countries that adopt the euro.
