Worthy Christian News > World News > ECB In ‘Final Stage’ To For Digital Euro

ECB In ‘Final Stage’ To For Digital Euro

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

FRANKFURT, GERMANY (Worthy News) – The European Central Bank confirmed Monday that it is in the final stage of investigating the introduction of the digital euro, which could make cashless payments the norm in defiance of critics fearing more government control.

“We are now entering the final stage of the investigation phase of the project,” said Fabio Panetta, the ECB’s Executive Board member.

“The [European Central Bank] ECB’s Governing Council recently endorsed a third set of design options for the digital euro – design options that we have also discussed in previous hearings,” he told the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs.

“Today we are thus publishing a report setting out the Eurosystem’s views on how people could access, hold and start to use the digital euro,” he added, according to a transcript obtained by Worthy News.

He added that in “a modern economy, being able to pay digitally is a basic need for people.”

With cash, he said, “central banks already provide a means of payment that is risk-free, widely accessible, and easy to use, and that leaves no one behind. But the rapid digitalization of our economies requires us to complement cash with its evolution in the digital sphere: a digital euro.”

He also made cleats that accepting the digital currency would be obligatory for businesses.

‘PUBLIC GOOD’

“If introduced, the digital euro would be a public good, and Europeans would expect to be able to access and use it easily anywhere in the euro area. So, it would be more beneficial and convenient for all users if merchants that accept digital payments were obliged to accept the digital euro as legal tender,” he added.

But critics say a digital version of the euro could be used to pry at people’s activities, and make it harder to use cash for making payments and purchases.

China has already introduced a similar social credit system tracking the ‘trustworthiness’ of individuals, businesses, and government institutions.

Those deemed dangerous to the system get blacklisted, limiting or even preventing them from accessing services ranging from buying products to travel.

There are also worries within the banking world that citizens in crisis could quickly move digital money away from certain financial institutions.

Yet the ECB, one of the world’s largest central banks, made clear it wants to continue with the digital euro currency at a time of massive reported inflation within the EU.

SKEPTICAL LEGISLATORS

Not all European legislators share the ECB’s apparent enthusiasm about the digitalization of the euro currency.

During a debate, members of the European Parliament, the EU’s legislature, raised concerns over privacy, state control, and the role of banks, and some are starting to wonder if the project is worth pursuing at all.

“There’s one central question which hasn’t yet been credibly answered, which is what is the added value …. What can I do with a digital euro that I can’t do with current payment options?” asked Markus Ferber, economic spokesperson for the center-right European People’s Party.

“As long as there’s no answer to this question, there’s going to be a great deal of skepticism.”

Though that debate was expected to continue within member states, the ECB’s announcement Monday suggested the digital could be introduced soon.

The ECB is directly governed by European Union law, with all 27 central banks of the EU member states as shareholders.