The Digital Euro will launch in the “the middle of 2029”, according to recent comments made by European Central Bank (ECB) Executive Board Member Piero Cipollone.
Speaking at Bloomberg’s Future of Finance conference on September 23 in Frankfurt, Cipollone also revealed the project’s roadmap had had a “major breakthrough” which complemented the tentative 2029 launch date.
Last week, Euro-area finance ministers agreed on an accord on how to set consumer holding limits of the central bank digital currency (CBDC). A Spanish minister also stated a deal to include the backing of the European Union (EU) is also expected in 2025.
“The discussion at the level of member-states is going very well,” said Cipollone.
EU optimism
On September 19, EU officials met in Copenhagen to discuss strategies on how to accelerate the push for the Digital Euro launch. Offline capabilities remain one of the greatest hurdles, with the ECB seeking to alleviate concerns around offline traceability.
Several EU officials remain confident however, with the trajectory of the Digital Euro, and the region’s bid to become more self-servant amidst the growth of stablecoins in the US and continued reliance on outside retail payment providers.
Bloomberg reported Lars Klingbeil, Finance Minister for Germany, said in Copenhagen that Europe must “move forward with the Digital Euro”, but has also become “more self-confident”. While European Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis agreed with Klingbeil’s stance on European confidence, he stated the ECB needs to accelerate the Digital Euro process.
If all EU member states can come to an agreement around the Digital Euro’s holding limits for customers by 2025, then the proposal will proceed to the European Parliament.
A European CBDC cannot be formally launched without formally being passed into law, and ECB President Christine Lagarde has called on Parliament to speed up the legislation process.
In June, Lagarde expressed her concerns with the continued stalemate between EU member states and Parliament while acknowledging the recent passing of the GENIUS and CLARITY Acts may hand the US an advantage in the race to establish a network for digital currency payment adoption.
Cipollone provided an update on the legislation process, where he noted a progress report would likely be filed on October 24 in which lawmakers must put forward amendments in the following six weeks, and then a further five months for wider discussions regarding the Digital Euro.
“We should have a position also of the parliament,” by the end of May Cipollone said. “We should arrive at a general approach, as they call it, an agreement among member-states by the end of the year.”
