European Union: Announced legislative proposal establishing the legal framework for a digital euro

On 28 June 2023, the European Commission announced a legislative proposal establishing the legal framework for a digital euro as a complement to euro banknotes and coins. It aims to ensure that people and businesses have the choice to pay digitally in the euro area and would work like a digital wallet. Notably, the digital euro would be available for payments both online and offline. Online transactions would offer the same level of data privacy as existing digital means of payments while offline transactions would ensure a high degree of privacy and data protection for users by allowing users to make digital payments while disclosing less personal data than they do today when making card payments, and the same as what they disclose when they take cash out of an ATM. Once the proposal is adopted by the European Parliament and Council, the European Central Bank would have to decide if and when to issue the digital euro.