ECB Official: Digital Euro Could Boost EU Payment Control

A planned European Central Bank pilot of the digital euro in 2027 could increase the European Union’s control over payments and reduce its reliance on non-European providers, ECB Executive Board member Piero Cipollone said.

The pilot will use real transactions conducted by ECB and national central bank staff. The ECB is inviting e-commerce and mobile-commerce companies to join preparations for the project.

Thirty-six market operators are working with the ECB on the preparations, including seven companies from Italy. The pilot will test how the digital euro could be used for everyday payments.

In an interview published Saturday, Cipollone said Europe’s dependence on external providers made it harder to ensure the reliable operation of payment systems.

“Europe has learned that, for some services, we cannot rely only on third parties,” he said. “We saw this with energy and we’re seeing it today with defense. And the same is true for payments.”

Cipollone said payment sovereignty would not mean excluding third parties from the European market. It would mean that Europe could choose among providers and rely on its own payment infrastructure when needed.

At a public lecture in Latvia in April, Cipollone said non-European companies governed about two-thirds of card transactions in the euro area. He said a digital euro could reduce that reliance by creating a payment system controlled within Europe.

The ECB Governing Council can decide whether to issue the digital euro only after legislative negotiations in Brussels are completed. Cipollone said he hoped the legislation would be adopted by the end of 2026, allowing the council to make a formal decision on issuance.