ECB does not target to be a role model for digital euro, but “to make sure that in the digital age, there is a currency that is the anchor of stability for the financial system.”
The European Central Bank (ECB) has signaled that a digital euro is set to roll out and is now waiting for legislative action from the European Parliament and the Commission.
Targeting this year’s final press conference on Thursday, ECB President Christine Lagarde stated that the digital euro is technically prepared.
“We have completed our work, we have carried the water,” Lagarde referred to. “But it’s now for the European Council and honestly on for the European Parliament to discover whether the Commission concept is satisfactory, how it can be changed into a piece of legislation or amended.”
In September, ECB’s Executive Board member Piero Cipollone set a practical timeline for digital euro rollout around mid-2029, calling it “a fair assessment.”
He stated at the time, “Discussion at the level of member-states is going thoroughly.”
Now, with the authorities stressing that the preparatory systems are built, attention is moving to political institutions to authorize.
“We place great hopes in the work so that it will be carried out in Parliament, as soon as the Council has determined its views,” Lagarde introduced.
Along with her counterpart from other EU nations, Lagarde has been a “very strong” supporter of this initiative.
MiCA-Compliant Stablecoins Are Regarded as Safe: ECB President
During the Q&A consultation, the ECB head dismissed that stablecoins are a threat to Europe’s monetary sovereignty, when the asset elegance comes under Europe’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA).
“We are lucky in Europe to have something that is called MiCAR,” Lagarde stated. “It’s the legal framework in which instruments like stablecoins can work and may be supervised and can be seemed as safe.”
Besides, she introduced that regulated stablecoins are “an option form of payment,” which would possibly have its very own advantage.
She also pressed the capability risks around multi-issuance currency for stablecoins, which probably exposes the reserves.
“So on that specific place, I assume that we want to be extraordinarily aware of what the capacity risks are for the system itself and for the holders of stablecoins.”
Digital Euro to Exist Alongside Fiat Money
At the meeting, President Lagarde stressed that the ECB does not target to be a role model for digital euro. Instead, “to make certain that within the digital age, there may be a currency this is the anchor of stability for the financial system.”
She reaffirmed ECB’s commitment to preserving euro cash broadly available, highlighting that a digital euro is to complement and no longer update fiat money. “In addition to making sure that it’s far user-friendly, cost effective, quick, private, that it can work online, offline,” she mentioned.
Further, she addressed a data-driven approach to interest rate decision, adding that inflation is projected to satisfy the ECB’s 2% target by 2028.
