ECB says digital euro launch depends on EU legislation this year

The European Central Bank says a digital euro pilot is on track to start in the second half of 2027, but its launch plans depend on EU lawmakers completing legislation by the end of this year. The ECB also called for rules protecting the acceptance and availability of cash, arguing that digital money should complement rather than replace banknotes and coins.

Piero Cipollone, an ECB executive board member, set out the plans on 10 November in a speech to the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs. The digital euro would be a new form of public money for electronic payments, but it cannot be issued until the legal framework is adopted.

The pilot is intended to test the system’s technical operation and user experience, using a beta version that would not have legal tender status. It is due to involve Eurosystem staff, payment providers and selected merchants, with testing of online and mobile payments also planned. The ECB selected 36 payment providers in July and expects to announce its choice of merchants early next year.

The ECB has not yet set a date for a first issuance: Cipollone said that could be done only after the regulation is adopted. He warned that a delay could postpone the project and, in the ECB’s view, deepen Europe’s reliance on foreign payment providers. The project’s timetable therefore remains dependent on negotiations between EU institutions.

The speech also linked the digital currency plans to a separate legislative proposal on the legal tender of euro cash. Cipollone said the ECB supported provisions on mandatory cash acceptance, access to cash across the euro area and the resilience of cash infrastructure. He noted that cash remains widely used in shops even as digital payments grow.

The ECB is also preparing redesigned banknotes. Almost 10 million people responded to a survey on shortlisted designs, and the Governing Council is expected to choose a design concept around the end of 2026. The first notes in the new series are expected to enter circulation in the early 2030s.

In a recent speech setting out its broader payments plans, the ECB also described work on tokenised finance and cross-border payments. Cipollone said the Eurosystem’s Pontes platform had settled a €1 billion digitally native bond issuance by the European Stability Mechanism on 2 November.