A group of EU finance ministers has issued a statement on the political aspects of a digital euro.
After a meeting in Brussels, eurozone finance ministers issued a statement aiming to adopt a digital euro. The statement, made on January 16, coincides with the release of the European Central Bank's (ECB) "inventory" document, which detailed the progress made in designing the digital euro for its future adoption.
The statement addressed the need for the European Central Bank and the European Commission to inform the EU Community and EU Member States of developments in the creation of a digital euro ; which is in its investigative phase.
The statement issued by the European Union confirms that the introduction and adoption of the digital euro, which is characterized by many characteristics and design options, requires bold political and economic decisions that must be discussed in the future.
The group revealed the issues it was monitoring and monitoring. Which showed the environmental impacts of digital currency, privacy and financial stability associated with the financial economy and related issues. It also noted the plans of EU member states outside the eurozone and everything related to central bank digital currencies.
They confirmed that members of the group “willing to contribute to these discussions” ; Adding: “We also welcome the intention of the European Commission to present a legislative proposal in the first half of 2023 that would create the digital euro and regulate its main features ; According to the decision of the participating legislators.”
This action is scheduled to come before the European Central Bank's Governing Council reviews the results of the digital currency investigation phase in the third quarter of the year.
The EU group's statement comes a day after a former Bank of England advisor published an op-ed in the Financial Times arguing that creating a cryptocurrency core is not worth the cost and risk
But what is digital euro?
The digital euro is a concept for a central bank digital currency (CBDC) issued by the European Central Bank (ECB). It would be a digital version of the physical euro, and would coexist with cash and bank deposits. The ECB has been exploring the possibility of issuing a digital euro for several years, with the goal of ensuring that the Eurozone remains at the forefront of digital innovation and is not left behind by other countries that are also exploring CBDCs.
The digital euro would bring a lot of benefits to the EU economy such as providing increased access to financial services for all citizens, enabling faster and more secure cross-border payments, and supporting the integration of the EU economy. However, the ECB is still assessing the technical, legal and economic implications of issuing a digital euro.
It's important to note that the digital euro is not a cryptocurrency, it is the digital version of the currency issued by the central bank and it's going to be backed by the full faith of the European Central Bank.
