European Central Bank's Cipollone sets out the case for a digital euro with legal tender status and mandatory merchant acceptance

In an interview, European Central Bank Executive Board member Piero Cipollone defended the digital euro as a way to ensure Europeans can pay seamlessly across the euro area in central bank money, while reducing reliance on non-European payment providers and strengthening resilience amid geopolitical risks. He framed the project as complementing cash by providing “public money in digital form” that meets rising demand for digital payments. Cipollone pointed to the growth of e-commerce, which he said accounts for more than a third of day-to-day transactions by value, and to the declining role of cash, which he said fell to 24% of day-to-day transaction value in 2024 from 40% in 2019. He also described the digital euro as legal tender, meaning any merchant that currently accepts digital payments would have to accept it, and argued that a single open standard could reduce fragmentation and be made available for private-sector solutions. He questioned proposals to limit the digital euro to offline use, arguing this would not address e-commerce needs. On monetary policy, Cipollone reiterated that the ECB sets interest rates to maintain price stability, targeting 2% inflation over the medium term, and said recent improvements in forecasts driven by investment could support growth without jeopardising price stability. He warned that rising uncertainty could undermine investment, with knock-on effects for growth and inflation if it persists.