Digital Euro Expected To Launch By 2029 After EU Backing (euronews.com)
- Reference: 0184057774
- News link: https://news.slashdot.org/story/26/06/23/175226/digital-euro-expected-to-launch-by-2029-after-eu-backing
- Source link: https://www.euronews.com/business/2026/06/23/european-parliament-backs-long-awaited-digital-euro-to-reduce-us-dominance-in-payments
> Under the proposal, consumers would be able to hold digital euros in a dedicated wallet, subject to a holding limit that has yet to be determined. The system would support both online and offline payments and is intended to offer a high degree of privacy, with the ECB unable to directly identify users from their payment data.
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> The ECB would provide the underlying infrastructure, while commercial banks and payment service providers would offer digital euro services to customers. Financial institutions are expected to be compensated for their participation in the scheme, while merchants will pay fees that are expected to be lower than those associated with current card transactions.
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> How that compensation should be structured remains one of the most contentious issues ahead of negotiations with EU member states, according to three sources familiar with the discussions. [...] The European Parliament is expected to formalise the committee's position during a plenary vote in Strasbourg in early July. Negotiations with the EU's 27 member states would then begin, with lawmakers aiming to reach a final agreement before the end of the year.
[1] https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20260622IPR45912/digital-euro-meps-want-to-ensure-sovereignty-privacy-and-financial-stability
[2] https://www.euronews.com/business/2026/06/23/european-parliament-backs-long-awaited-digital-euro-to-reduce-us-dominance-in-payments
There is very little need (Score:2, Flamebait)
Bank-transfers are fast, cheap, efficient in the Euro-zone. A "Digital Euro" has no real uses. My take is this is some politicians desiring to appear "modern".
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> My take is this is some politicians desiring to appear "modern".
Really, that's all there is to it, do you think?
Okey dokey.
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Your fake superiority and arrogance is simply one thing: unbecoming.
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"unbecoming", eh?
You should use the word 'fake' sparingly, you really should.
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I did not expect you to understand my comment. Oh, and look, you did not. Well.
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Oh sure, it was very deep, no doubt. Easily missed.
Re:There is very little need (Score:4, Insightful)
> Bank-transfers are fast, cheap, efficient in the Euro-zone. A "Digital Euro" has no real uses. My take is this is some politicians desiring to appear "modern".
The idea is not to replace or compete with SEPA: it's to try to replicate some nice aspects of cash in a more and more cash-less society especially for day-to-day transactions.
A cash-less payment currently needs to involve a private financial institution somewhere in the transaction. This is because the central bank only issues cash. This "digital euro" supposedly will allow for cash-less transaction only involving government institutions instead of private ones.
Of course the question is whether you trust more a government institution than a private one and whether this will open the door to an eventual phasing-out of cash down the road...
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Europe is not gong cashless. Some politicians dream of it, but it is not going to happen.
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Especially banks want a cashless society. The idea of a Central Bank Digital Currency is already quite old in Europe, but the banks have sabotaged it time and time again, out of fear that they would not be necessary anymore and would be unable to squeeze themselves between every payment.
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> Europe is not gong cashless. Some politicians dream of it, but it is not going to happen.
Completely cashless is likely not going to happen any time soon, but more and more people pay cashless most of the time. I don't even remember the last time I paid something with cash myself.
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Oh, some groups of people are ging cashless, no doubt. But that is quite different from a whole society doing it.
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Go do a bank transfer at your local supermarket and see how far you get. Oh but thegarbz, we have debit cards! Yes we do, go look at which company is currently responsible for clearing debit transactions. Ever wonder why the Maestro logo looks so similar to Mastercard to the point where you question why they haven't been sued for trademark infringement?
The best bet you have right now anywhere in Europe of clearing bank transactions easily without the help of a US tech firm, is via Wero / iDEAL and those are
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I could have done that an hour ago. Yes, it would have been an actual, instant bank transfer and the only payment processor involved would have been a domestic one. I prefer to pay cash, but it is absolutely no problem doing things electronically with no US service provider anywhere in there.
I do not know where you get your information from, but as usual, it sucks.
Re: There is very little need (Score:2)
Ah, so does that work in all EU-countries? Or just in yours?
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> Ah, so does that work in all EU-countries? Or just in yours?
Instant SEPA support for retail payments is still fragmentary and relies on private financial institutions.
The idea with the Digital Euro is that it would effectively have "legal tender" status. The EU would definitely push for widespread adoption.
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Hmm. Maybe. Probably not though, because the cost may be prohibitive for smaller businesses, unless they are allowed to alternatively accept cash as well and refuse the digital version. But then the digital version loses most of its advantages.
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It works nicely in Switzerland with TWINT.
And Maestro is owned by Mastercard.
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except to enrich the chosen group of elites who were given the per transaction skim monopoly with a cut going to the EU government.
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What is this "skim" you are talking about? An "Echtzeit-Überweisung" may, by law, not be more expensive than a regular SEPA transfer. For most private customers, SEPA transfers are free these days.
I am really getting tired of big-mouth no-clue people like you.
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Can you name these elites?
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"Digital Euro" is similar to keeping your money into a digital safe-deposit-box, which is to say, totally different than keeping into a bank (aka more privacy). Real uses cases a bank or having cash cannot cover: bank account seizure or safe travelling.
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You seem to be stuck in some paranoid delusion there. Get help.
You don't use Visa/MC for digital payment (Score:3)
You use it because it's a layer between you and whoever you're paying. It lets you dispute charges. And you don't have to give anyone direct access to your cash.
No no no no no (Score:1)
I prefer to move my money without informing the government. Government funding should not rely on taxing every goddamn financial transaction. This effort should lead directly back to a barter economy, until the idiots who think this is a good idea are put out on the street to beg for pennies.
Re: No no no no no (Score:2)
You think the government doesnâ(TM)t already have access to all your CC and bank transfers if they care? On top of tour bank and the processor?
Sweet summer child.
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FBI caught the Jan 6th bomber by searching card swipes for a specific item purchased four years in the past . That should have alarmed people more than it did. They're hoovering up all purchase data from all retail and storing it indefinitely.
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I know they combed through store info to catch him but I'm not seeing anything about the items being purchased 4 years ago.
indirectly identify? (Score:1)
is intended to offer a high degree of privacy, with the ECB unable to directly identify users from their payment data.
So ECB can indirectly identify users from their payment data, or some non-ECB entity can directly identify users?
I have a hard time imagining they wouldn't have a way to accomplish this as they wouldn't want the system to become a tool for human trafficking, Russian oligarchs, drug cartels, terrorists, etc.
Am I just being paranoid?
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Yes, exactly. The "directly" makes it clear that there'll be no privacy when they want to track everything "indirectly" later.
It's all so tiresome.
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Not at all paranoid.
Cash is already tracked to some extent- e.g. which notes (serial#) were drawn from what ATM, when and where. But it's incomplete.
Certain small cash transactions are still anonymous. And anonymous transactions are bad.
Goodbye money (Score:2)
aaaaaaaand everyone's wallet got silently stolen by a malicious Chrome extension/phishing email/literally any malware using any exploit ever. Don't worry, the bank can reverse the charges! Unless of course it's a fully digital system on a blockchain. Then that money is already overseas and irretrievable.
I know! Let's make it so you can blacklist those funds on the blockchain and then they're not spendable. That solves the problem. And you know what, once that system is in place, let's vaporize all the mone
FAFO (Score:3)
> ... designed to reduce Europe's dependence on US-controlled payment networks ...
So the US tech and financial sectors' acquiescence to Trump and his administration's Fascist ways are coming back to bite them. Good. "The more you tighten your grip, Trump, the more countries and income opportunities will slip through your fingers." (Apologies to George).
That said, I don't trust the European "commercial banks and payment service providers (who) would offer digital euro services to customers" - mostly because 'bankers'. Another Star Wars quote comes to mind: something or other about altering the deal...
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Booting US intermediaries as EU payment providers - all good and well, but you didn't expect overall control to go away, did you. Every transaction monitored: that's the goal.
And Already It's A Loser (Score:2)
To be sure, the idea of offline transactions and privacy tickles my pickle. But, you know it's going to be a mess, to the point that they'll have to restrict balances and transactions to levels that make it virtually useless..
Then there is the 3 years to start rolling it out? Maybe? It's a sad situation to watch the huge potential drain into the crapper.
Meanwhile, India has it's [1]Unified Payments Interface(UPI) [wikipedia.org] based digital transaction system. The customer(payer) scans a QR code for the vendor's(recipient's
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Payments_Interface
Privacy? Right (Score:1)
So...ECB will not be able to see transactions. Does the same apply to tax and police authorities? Intelligence agencies? Sanctions enforcers?
If not, it has clear disadvantages to cash - lack of tracking and having to explain every penny if those authorities decide to inquire (guilty unless proven innocent).
Reduce reliance on credit cards? (Score:2)
The EU made it illegal to charge credit card surcharges.
How is this digital Euro ever supposed to compete with credit cards which give "free" consumer protection through chargeback?
Good way to pay for porn I guess.
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It is about privacy I guess. Who needs that these days? Privacy is for boomers.
So is it a debit card or credit card equivlent? (Score:2)
The whole point of credit cards is them handling people that rip your card off so it's essentially insurance. I don't think that the euro wallet would have the same equivalence of a credit card.
CBDC, and so it begins (Score:3)
How soon until all other cryptocurrencies and cash are outlawed?
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Whatever it is, it's not soon enough. We don't need a system used exclusively for illegal purposes and money laundering while burning through a metric fuckton of energy to provide no economic or social value what so ever. Fuck crypto.
Re: CBDC, and so it begins (Score:1)
If I had modpoints I'd upvote you.
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As soon as cash is gone, taxes are going to be hiked because economic activity can't escape into the grey zone so easily.
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Biggest concern will be privacy issues.
It's bad enough that the major payment processors have any say so about what their cards
can be used to purchase and how much leverage they have in what services can be tied to
their cards. ( Think the adult entertainment and / or firearm industries )
Now, you introduce a system where the government will get a snapshot of every single
purchase you make and can easily evolve into a permissions model where your purchases
must only be those that are approved by your governme
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Anonymous transactions are a nightmare to certain people. I find it amazing how swiftly, how coherently and how pragmatically they can act under some circumstances.