ECB board member Fabio Panetta affirms the ECB’s digital euro privacy policy and says the digital currency will never be programmable, but it may have an app. 



The digital euro, should it come into actuality, will save part of the central bank by extending payment options beyond those offered by cash, European Central Bank (ECB) administrative board member Fabio Panetta told a European Parliament committee on Jan. 23.

Panetta expressed satisfaction with the progress of the exploration of an implicit digital euro. He told the European Parliament Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee:

“The ECB is at the global forefront of the efforts by central banks to design state-of-the-art digital payment solutions for both retail and wholesale transactions.”

Access to the digital euro would originally be open to consumers, businesses, and governments within the eurozone,  also are extended to individualities and businesses in the European Economic Area, and eventually to “ selected third-party countries, ” on the basis of agreements, Panetta said.

Related: Digital euro settlement, distribution options detailed in latest progress report

Availability and usability would best be delivered through a scheme that provided uniform rules, standards, and procedures to allow the development of additional products and services based on it, Panetta said. Transactions with the digital euro should be free, with extra services from interposers available for voluntary use.

“ The digital euro would never be programmable money, ” Panetta said. “ The ECB would not set any limitations on where, when, or to whom people can pay with a digital euro. ” The ECB won't seek access to  particular data either, he told the committee 

“When it comes to the central bank, we propose that we do not have access to personal data. And it will be for you, as co-legislators, to decide on the balance between privacy and other important public policy objectives like anti-money laundering, countering terrorism financing, preventing tax evasion or guaranteeing sanctions compliance.”

The ECB is considering creating a Eurosystem app to assure that users can pierce services throughout the eurozone. Panetta added:

“When it comes to the hardware, people could pay either with mobile phones, physical cards or possibly other devices like smartwatches.”

The exploration will transition from the investigative to the realization stage in the third quarter of this year, Panetta affirmed. He concluded by reminding the legislators of their part in the digital euro design. “ It has a clear political dimension in view of its broad societal implications, ” echoing sentiments newly voiced by the Eurogroup of finance ministers.

(DEREK ANDERSEN, Cointelegraph, 2023)