EU Parliament Committee Advances Digital Euro Bill in Key Vote
The European Central Bank began studying a digital euro in 2020, envisioning it as a central bank-issued payment instrument that would coexist with cash. The European Union hopes it will reduce reliance on U.S. credit card networks and dollar-denominated stablecoins while safeguarding payment autonomy, personal-data privacy and financial stability.
The European Parliament's Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs approved the draft on June 23, 2026, by 43 votes to 14. The digital euro would support online and offline payments, pay no interest and be subject to holding limits, while businesses could temporarily hold it for up to 24 hours. The ECB aims to launch it in 2029.
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The history behind this eventECB Selects 36 Payment Providers to Test Digital Euro
The European Central Bank is advancing its digital euro project as finance becomes increasingly digital and geopolitical conditions shift. The initiative aims to give the euro zone a safe, convenient official digital currency backed by sovereign credit. It could reduce Europe’s reliance on U.S. payment giants such as Visa and Mastercard while strengthening the region’s control over its future payments infrastructure, marking an important milestone in the global development of central bank digital currencies.
The ECB formally announced that it had selected 36 financial and payment service providers, including Deutsche Bank, Revolut and Stripe, for a pilot scheduled to begin in the second half of 2027. The move takes the digital euro formally from planning into practical testing. Participants will conduct trials covering technology, security and user experience as they make final preparations for a euro-zone digital payment tool that could serve hundreds of millions of people.
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