The European Central Bank (ECB) continues to push ahead with its digital euro project, which could debut in 2029. A person close to the organization said the decision to continue preparations will be analyzed at a meeting in Florence, Italy, this week.
The central bank digital currency (CBDC) project, which has raised concerns about the oversight and control it might entail, was launched in 2023 with a two-year preparatory phase. Meanwhile, the European Union was expected to approve the legal framework necessary for implementation.
This preparatory phase will end this month. but, To date, no agreement has been reached. between national governments or within the European Parliament.
Piero Cipollone, a member of the ECB’s executive board, also publicly discussed his expected start date at an event in September, suggesting that “mid-2029 could be a reasonable estimate.”
The debate is intensifying due to the risk that stablecoins linked to the dollar (USD) will establish themselves in the Old Continent. Some members of the European People’s Party prefer private solutions According to international media, instead of the ECB proposal.
As reported by CriptoNoticias, ECB President Christine Lagarde stressed the need to accelerate projects that strengthen the region’s strategic autonomy amid geopolitical tensions. Europe is under increasing pressure to push for a digital euro as it relies on US companies such as Visa, Mastercard and PayPal for retail payments.
In addition to the CBDC, it also promised to launch a CBDC in July. A plan that allows transactions to be settled based on distributed ledger technology (DLT).
The digital euro initiative, in particular, has been controversial, with critics warning it could give governments an unprecedented level of control over people’s finances.
Analysts such as Spanish economist Marc Vidal and the communicator known as “Captain Bitcoin” argue that this CBDC has the potential to turn money into a surveillance tool by allowing transactions to be tracked and restricted according to discretionary criteria.