Cash-like Privacy Is Among Digital Euro’s 'hardest Political...

The EU Council recently announced that it is backing the European Central Bank’s digital euro design, which includes both online and offline functions.

He told Cointelegraph that he expects the European lawmakers and the ECB to find a middle ground.

The digital euro is the European Union’s planned central bank digital currency (CBDC). Discussions around CBDC developments have intensified globally, as policymakers weigh the rise of stablecoins alongside other pressures on existing systems.

A representative of the European Commission told Cointelegraph that while the institution “cannot speculate on the outcome of the deliberations,” there are some aspects that are unlikely to change:

EU officials have long expressed concerns about the impact of stablecoins on their local markets.

In early September, ECB President Christine Lagarde urged EU lawmakers to close gaps in foreign stablecoin regulation, warning of redemption risks and euro outflows. An adviser to the European Central Bank previously called for global coordination to regulate stablecoins and prevent the US dollar's dominance.

Thomadakis explained that if the legal work “slips materially beyond 2026, the ECB timetable breaks.”

This is because pilot projects and rollout rely on the implementation of a legal framework and “merchant acceptance obligations also cannot bite without the regulation in force.”

According to the Atlantic Council, at least 137 countries and currency union groups representing 98% of global GDP have explored a CBDC to some degree. The ECB’s digital euro aims to strengthen the euro’s international role, according to the think tank.

China’s digital yuan is often cited as one of the most advanced programs among major economies. The central bank of China has started allowing commercial banks to pay interest on its CBDC wallets starting 2026.

Source: CoinTelegraph