The European Commission plans to introduce a central bank digital currency bill early next year, with the digital euro not launching until 2025 at the earliest.
The European Central Bank (ECB) is currently experimenting with the digital euro internally and expects to start work on a prototype platform by the end of 2023. If regulators think rolling out a digital euro makes sense, it could be ready by 2025.
By 2023, the rules for using the central bank’s digital currency in Europe would have been worked out. Mairead McGuinness, Commissioner for Financial Affairs of the European Union, announced the agendas at a fintech conference organized by Afore Consulting.
“If we don’t satisfy this demand, then others will do it; as co-legislators, you will play a key role in any changes to the EU legislative framework that may be necessary to introduce a digital euro. Our goal is to table legislation in early 2023, A targeted legislative consultation in the coming weeks.”
ECB also wants to examine all precautions that must be taken to introduce the digital euro to prevent a destabilization of the European financial system.
The Governing Council will make the final decision on the launch of the digital euro of the ECB, but European politicians are calling for the process to be speeded up.
Earlier, Bank of France Governor François Villeroy de Galhau expressed interest in launching a digital euro as central banks worldwide explore the possibility of launching their digital currencies.
According to de Galo, the European Union should be more actively involved in this process of launching central bank digital currencies (CBDC) so that the ECB does not lag behind other central banks. ECB Executive Board member Fabio Panetta also said that with the transition to a digital euro, the ECB would be better able to protect user privacy than private companies.