07 November 2022

Commissioner McGuinness at the high level conference, 'Towards a legislative framework enabling a digital euro for citizens and businesses'

We've heard from everyone: from the President of the ECB, right down to other colleagues in the Commission, to users, to consumers.

So I think the discussion was very broad and very deep. 

And the questions remain unanswered. 

As I expected it to be today.

We don't have all of the answers.

But we know that we're on a path towards a digital euro, and working out and finding solutions that we will make appropriate to answer all of those questions.

It's a hugely significant development: a digital euro.

And indeed when the conversation began within the services, I was the awkward woman in the room asking the very basic questions: who, what, where, why, and when.

It's useful being a journalist in times like this!

Because it is the basic questions that people will ask, that we need to answer.

And, the technology matters, but it's like my car – I don't exactly know how all the bits work, but I want it to work, and get me from A to B.

And I think citizens will want the same delivery from a digital euro.

So lots of different issues covered, including privacy, but also how we tackle that this digital euro doesn't add to our problems on money laundering and terrorism financing. 

So we heard from the chair of the ECON Committee, Irene Tinagli, and the President of the Eurogroup, Paschal Donohoe, on this need for a very broad political discussion.

And I said it in my own panel – I think it's really important that the Commission drafts legislation and the co-legislators then are very involved in the detail.

It's what democracy is for and about, and I think it's hugely important when we're rolling out this new evolution of our cash towards a digital euro.

If I listen back to what my colleague Valdis said this morning, this isn't the end. 

We're going to have more of these roundtables, probably smaller groups.

But we want to engage, listen and learn, and come out with the right solutions. 

But for me there is about four key takeaways from the conference.

So, a digital euro - to be successful - it has to address this broader concept of Europe's strategic economic needs, and provide real added value and strong use case for citizens.

So it has to do both, and again I think that was a message from the panel from Fabio Panetta.

We are investigating a digital euro to maintain the role of public money in a more and more digitalised economy and to strengthen Europe's open strategic autonomy.

But a digital euro has to bring real improvements for people - for citizens, for businesses.

Because they will ultimately decide its success, whether they use it or not.

And without reasonable uptake, the digital euro will not achieve any of the objectives we've discussed.

The improvements can be domestic but also international, and again this was outlined in another panel which included my colleague Paolo Gentiloni and the Spanish minister Nadia Calvino, and others.

So international payments are the backbone of international travel and trade, and there is a lot of scope to improve their efficiency.

The digital euro is part of that conversation, and we need to think about how the digital euro could, from the very beginning, be interoperable with other jurisdictions...

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