The digital euro takes a massive step forward after winning a crucial European Parliament vote EU lawmakers backed a legal framework to launch a state-backed digital currency by 2029 so the continent can stop relying entirely on U.S. credit card and stablecoin giants. – The…
ropean Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee approved the legal framework for a digital euro and ordered immediate trilogue talks to finalize the law, ending three years of clashes between central and commercial banks. – EU officials and ECB President Christine Lagarde say the digital euro is needed to safeguard Europe’s monetary sovereignty and reduce reliance on U.S. dollar–pegged stablecoins and foreign payment giants like Visa and Mastercard. – The rules pave the way for online and offline versions of the digital euro by 2029, with cash-like privacy for offline payments, strict holding limits to protect banks, and a 12‑month pilot to test the system with selected merchants and payment providers. The European Central Bank (ECB) scored a major victory after the European Parliament’s influential Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) committee voted to approve the legal framework for a digital euro on Tuesday
The committee also directly mandated the immediate start of final “trilogue” negotiations between European Union (EU) member states and the Parliament to hammer out the final law. The vote ends three years of intense confrontations between central bankers and commercial lenders concerned over losing deposit revenue. The main goal behind the deployment of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) is not just about modernizing payments, but to maintain the bloc’s autonomy of the monetary system.
ECB Christine Lagarde has long-argued in favour of a CBDC to stave off the U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin dominance in Tether’s USDT and Circle’s (CRCL) USDC. Lagarde pushed back against public concerns over financial surveillance, asserting that cash isn’t going anywhere, adding that…