Fabio Panetta: Shaping Europe's digital future - the path towards a digital euro

Introductory statement by Mr Fabio Panetta, Member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank, at the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament, Brussels, 4 September 2023. 

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

It is a pleasure to be back here to speak before this Committee.

It has been an honour to steer the digital euro project and to discuss it with you every step of the way. Our first hearing took place back in October 2020 when the ECB published its very first report on a digital euro, well before we decided to officially launch the digital euro investigation phase in October 2021.

We have made considerable progress since then, as can be seen in the many reports and studies we have shared with you. We have made those reports public, enabling citizens and interested stakeholders alike to keep up to date with our investigation. And during the eight hearings I have attended before this Committee, we have discussed 110 of your questions.

Your questions, comments and views – as well as your criticisms – have helped us make progress towards our shared objective: designing an inclusive, truly European digital means of payment that can meet people's needs and preferences. I would like to sincerely thank this Committee for your support and contributions so far.

But there is still a long journey ahead of us, and further close cooperation between European institutions will be needed in order to determine the optimal design of a digital euro.

We are now approaching a new phase in this project.