End of Euro? EU to scrap banknotes for digital money

Plans are underway for a ‘digital euro’ to be ‘in circulation’ within a matter of just years. Bank leaders say this is intended simply to “complement cash”. They have attempted to play down fears they are, instead, here to “replace” proper, physical money.

European Central Bank (ECB) head Christine Lagarde announced last summer plans for a new digital currency had been on the table since 2020.

Now, the European Commission is preparing to propose a bill which would serve as the legal foundation for the work currently underway to push out a digital currency.

The legislation is expected to be put to tabled in 2023.

Olaf Scholz, then German Finance Minister, now German Chancellor, said in 2021 the EU must “push forward” with digital money plans “with full speed”, noting that other groups would not wait for the bloc to act.

He, quoted in POLITICO, said: “No one will wait for us.

“I am convinced that eurozone countries need to take part more actively in the process and play a stronger role.”

The plan is that a form of digital euro would be ‘in circulation’ by 2025.

Andrea Jelinek, Chair of the European Data Protection Board, suggested the push came in response to the “decline” of cash.

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Discussing what the public and shareholders would like from a digital currency, Ms Jelinek described characteristics that could already be said of cash.

She said: “The majority of citizens declared they wanted ‘a digital euro focused on privacy and the protection of personal data, which can be used offline’.”

There appears also to be a push for a digital currency in Britain – this, at one time, being dubbed ‘Britcoin’.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak expressed a similar theme to ECB leaders, stressing: “We know that cash remains vital for millions of people and are fully committed to ensuring people across the UK can continue to access it.”

But Treasury insiders cited in the Mail on Sunday last year stressed such a move would mark the “biggest upheaval in the monetary system for centuries”.

Additional reporting by Maria Ortega.