EU Parliament Greenlights Digital Euro
Europe is advancing the digital euro toward a 2029 launch through legislative approvals, ECB pilot programs, and growing private-sector participation.
The European Parliament approved a mandate to proceed with digital euro negotiations after a right-wing bloc failed in its attempt to block the vote. The decision advances the EU's central bank digital currency project to a formal negotiation phase.
Digital Euro: the surveillance question is real, but so is the reason
The right-wing bloc that tried to block this vote wasn't just being obstructionist. Their concern — that a government-issued digital currency hands the state a surveillance tool that could be turned against ordinary citizens — is a legitimate one, and worth taking seriously.
The digital euro proposal does include privacy protections. But those safeguards get stress-tested in trilogue, the closed-door negotiation between Parliament, the Commission, and the Council where the original language often doesn't survive.
Here's the honest tension: the ECB's stated reason for building this is also legitimate. European payments run on Visa and Mastercard — American infrastructure. A homegrown payment rail is a reasonable strategic goal.
But 'we need payment sovereignty' and 'this won't be used to watch you' are two arguments that have to be proved simultaneously. One is easy to build. The other is very hard to guarantee.
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