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©Reuters. Brussels regrets that few people in the EU know about the digital euro project
Brussels, Nov 7 (.).- The European Commission wants to publicize the digital euro, a project in which Brussels is working together with the European Central Bank (ECB) to respond to the growing demand for online payments but which European citizens know little, said Community Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis on Monday.
At a table on the challenges and opportunities of the future common currency in digital format on the financial system, Dombrovskis, also responsible for European Trade, said that the commitment to this project “does not go far enough.”
“Last month, a Eurobarometer survey showed that only one in three Europeans had heard of the debates on the digital euro. In almost all member states most people did not know about it,” Dombrovskis said.
The community official announced that in the “next few months” he plans to organize round tables with the commissioners for the Economy, the Internal Market and Financial Services, to inform and involve more people in this proposal.
The digital euro is intended to complement cash currency, not replace it, and wants to ensure a fast and secure payment method.
Brussels will present its plan “in the first half of 2023”, which will then be negotiated between member states and the European Parliament, Dombrovskis said today.
Meanwhile, Brussels and the European Central Bank are holding consultations to seek the views of all interested parties, he added.
Participating in the conference today, among others, were the President of the ECB, Christine Lagarde, the Spanish Vice President for Economic Affairs, Nadia Calviño, and the German Finance Minister, Christian Lindner.
Lagarde pointed out that it is necessary to have an “efficient and secure payment system in the digital age” and urged European legislators to develop a legal framework that avoids risks.
Among other dangers, he mentioned the possible entry of large foreign technology companies into the payment system, which “may increase the risk of market domination and dependency,” with consequences for Europe’s strategic autonomy.
The President of the ECB underlined the importance of having citizen support in this initiative and that the proposal be adopted “in time” to offer certainty.
After the initial interventions, the German Finance Minister, Christian Lindner, defended that the digital euro will have to “complement” and not “replace” other forms of payment that currently exist, among which he expressly cited cash. .
Lindner stressed that future rules governing the digital euro “must leave enough room” for the private sector to develop innovations based on the digital euro itself.
In turn, President of Santander Bank (BME:), Ana Botín, conveyed that European banks are capable of “contributing” to the development of the initiative and pointed out that the project has a “political angle” because it will strengthen Europe’s competitiveness in the payment sector compared to other already highly advanced countries, such as China, the United States or Brazil.
On the debate regarding anonymity, the member of the Executive Committee of the ECB in charge of the technical work on the digital euro, Fabio Panetta, said that a certain margin should be left to make payments without identification (he gave a limit of 50 euros as an example).
But he warned that allowing anonymity for “large amounts” payments would pose risks to EU rules against money laundering and terrorist financing.
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(More information on the European Union at euroefe.euractiv.es)
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