Central Bank of Estonia conference highlights digital euro as EU-controlled alternative to non-European payment providers

The Central Bank of Estonia hosted a high-level international conference at Eesti Pank on the planned digital euro, focusing on how it could support euro area payments that are critical for the European economy and strengthen strategic independence as cash use declines. Keynote speakers from the European Commission and the European Central Bank argued that the conditions are in place for a digital form of legal tender to be introduced, while noting that a final decision has not yet been taken. Speakers pointed to rapidly changing payment behaviour, with cash use at points of sale falling from 72% to 52% between 2019 and 2024, and linked this to growing dependence on non-European payment solutions because Europe lacks a pan-euro-area digital means of payment. The conference noted that 13 euro area countries, including the Baltic states, have no alternative to non-European service providers for everyday card payments, raising resilience and competition concerns. The digital euro was presented as “cash in digital form” that would complement rather than replace cash, built on European infrastructure and designed to be usable even during severe disruptions, including through cyber-resilient infrastructure, back-up solutions for provider failures, and the ability to pay without an internet connection or during interruptions to banks’ payment services. The legal basis for the digital euro remains under discussion in the European Parliament and the Council, with those talks indicated as potentially concluding by the end of next year, after which the European Central Bank’s Governing Council could decide whether to launch the digital euro into circulation.