“Strengthening the resilience of payments in Europe has become a geopolitical necessity,” Markus Faber, a leading member of the ECON Committee, said on Tuesday.
“In a world marked by geopolitical tensions, we can no longer accept that digital payments are so dependent on the goodwill of a small number of foreign providers,” he added, echoing concerns expressed across the EU.
The new rules voted by the ECON Committee pave the way for the ECB to introduce both online and offline versions of the currency by 2029. Importantly, the offline version will allow users to exchange digital euros directly from phone to phone without an internet connection, ensuring the same privacy as cash, with the ECB unable to see what citizens are buying.
Commercial banks successfully lobbied for strict limits on the amount of money people can store in digital wallets to avoid mass outflows of cash from traditional accounts during a crisis.
The ECB will now use the beta version to embark on a 12-month pilot phase to test the infrastructure in real-world scenarios with selected merchants and payment service providers.
“The euro has to be something you can use in your pocket or on your phone,” Faber summed up.
