De Nederlandsche Bank published a speech by Olaf Sleijpen arguing that the digital euro should be understood as public money in digital form, effectively a digital banknote issued by the Eurosystem for everyday payments. In the speech, delivered at the JongDNB Summer School in Amsterdam, he said DNB supports the project because it would complement cash, preserve public access to central bank money in an increasingly digital payments market, and provide features such as offline use and strong privacy protection. The speech said the digital euro would be available through banks and other payment institutions for in-store, online and person-to-person payments. It was framed as distinct from cryptoassets and stablecoins, and not intended to replace bank accounts, serve as a savings or investment product, enable mass surveillance, or function as programmable money. Holding limits would be used to prevent large-scale shifts out of bank deposits. Sleijpen linked the case for the project to Europe’s reliance on non-European providers for digital payments and to the need to preserve the balance between public and private money as cash use declines. On next steps, he said the European Central Bank is in a technical preparation phase that includes pilots, a rulebook and selected suppliers, but issuance still depends on an EU regulation. The European Commission proposed legislation in June 2023 and the Council reached agreement at the end of 2025. If the European Parliament also reaches agreement in June, trilogue could begin, with the legislative process expected to conclude by the end of 2026. The indicative timeline in the speech points to pilots and market testing in 2027, communication design in 2028, and a possible first issuance no earlier than 2029 if all conditions are met.
De Nederlandsche Bank2026-05-27
De Nederlandsche Bank's Olaf Sleijpen sets out support for a digital euro as a digital banknote
De Nederlandsche Bank published a speech by Olaf Sleijpen positioning the digital euro as public money in digital form, distributed via banks and payment institutions for everyday in-store, online and person-to-person payments, with offline functionality, privacy safeguards and holding limits. He stressed that the digital euro would complement cash, preserve access to central bank money, and reduce reliance on non-European payment providers, while remaining distinct from cryptoassets, stablecoins and programmable money. Sleijpen said the European Central Bank is in a technical preparation phase and, subject to EU legislation, issuance would not occur before 2029.