European Commission Seeks Industry Experts For Digital Euro Consultation

Key Insights:

• The EC is tapping payments and finance experts for its CBDC research.
• A digital Euro is being considered, but it may be sometime before launch.
• Around 80% of central banks are considering their digital currencies.

The European Commission (EC) announced its ambitions on April 5 in a bulletin called “Targeted consultation on a digital euro.” It is seeking a group of specialists to assist in the research and development needed to digitize the currency of the federation.

Technical knowledge will come from payment industry specialists, service and infrastructure providers, developers of payment solutions, merchants and associations, and consumer associations.

The EC is looking for retail payments regulators, anti-money laundering (AML) supervisors, and Financial Intelligence Units on the legal and security side.

The dispatch comes from the Directorate‑General for Financial Stability, Financial Services, and Capital Markets Union, the Commission department responsible for EU policy on banking and finance.

CBDC Assessment Preparations

The digital Euro consultations will go hand in hand with similar research conducted by the European Central Bank. In late March, the ECB released its preliminary findings on the feasibility of a central bank digital currency.

The EC notice confirmed that any digital Euro would need to be fully regulated and would require an impact assessment:

“For a digital euro to be used as the single currency, concurrently with euro banknotes and coins, it would require a Regulation of the co-legislator, upon a proposal by the Commission,”

The targeted consultation will gather research users’ needs and expectations for a digital euro and its role in the EU’s retail payments and the digital economy.

Other areas of focus included making the digital euro available for retail use while continuing to “safeguard the legal tender status of euro cash.” It will also look into its impact on the financial sector and financial stability, privacy and data protection, and international payments with the digital Euro.

80% of Central Banks Eyeing Digital Currency

According to recent research by international accounting firm PwC, most central banks are now researching or have launched their own digital currency. The findings came in the “2022 PwC CBDC Global Index,” which analyzes and ranks the leading retail and wholesale CBDC projects. The report stated:

“It is estimated that more than 80% of central banks are considering launching a central bank digital currency (CBDC) or have already done so.”

Last month, FXEmpire reported that the Bank of Canada would be working with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on a year-long research project on CBDCs.