2023-12-01 08:00:00
While the question of issuing a digital euro is currently under discussion within the various European bodies, the France Payments Forum association provides its expertise on the interest and relevance of adopting this new form of digital currency .
The digital euro in question
France Payments Forum is a association of payments professionals made up of around sixty members, companies and payment experts, mainly French, but also European. The association’s objective today is to actively participate in the construction of a European payments market which is at the same time unique, digital, without borders, and fully sovereign.
At a time when the European Central Bank (ECB) and the entire Eurosystem are preparing the possible launch of the digital euro (a new form of central retail currency for current payments), the members of the association France Payments Forum provide their point of view on the usefulness of this new currency.
“Today we need to ask the right questions regarding the nature of this currency, its opportunity, its contributions, as well as its possible consequences. We believe that this new instrument for retail payment transactions will compete with bank money and existing payment instruments. Although inevitable in the long term, this new form of money does not currently provide any added value in terms of payment. But European public authorities want to have this new form of currency to guarantee, if necessary, European sovereignty,” explains Hervé Sitruk, President of France Payments Forum.
New deadlines to come
Following the publication at the end of June 2023, by the European Commission of a draft regulation to authorize the issuance of the digital euro, the debate is open with a view to its adoption, following amendments, by the European co-legislators: the European Parliament and the Council of Heads of State and Government. For the moment, European public authorities are not yet aligned with each other or with the ECB.
For Hervé Sitruk, “While the European Commission has given the ECB carte blanche in its regulatory project to issue the digital euro, except for a few electorally sensitive subjects, the two co-legislators intend to both clarify several questions and keep a greater hand on the project. But, everyone is looking for ways to reach consensus to make this project a success, and engage in a democratic debate with all the economic players concerned.”
This debate should extend a priori beyond the European elections of June 2024, until an agreement is reached within the European Trilogue. Pending the adoption of this draft regulation, the central banks ruled on October 18 regarding the continuation of experiments and pilots of this central retail digital euro. “The possible decision to issue a digital euro will only be taken by the ECB and the Eurosystem following the adoption of the European legislative framework. And the digital euro should not be launched for five years, unless the timetable is accelerated,” specifies Hervé Sitruk.
This content was produced in partnership with OpenMedias. The BFM Business editorial team was not involved in the production of this content.
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