Speech by Piero Cipollone, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, at the France Payments Forum event “Digital euro and the future of payments in Europe”

Paris, 15 May 2025

Thank you for inviting me to discuss the future of payments and the digital euro.

Most people associate the adoption of the euro with the launch of euro banknotes and coins. While the euro was introduced for accounting purposes in 1999, we tend to feel it only became our money three years later once we started paying in euro cash around Europe. Euro banknotes and coins made the currency the tangible symbol of a united Europe.

A strong currency also comes in tandem with strong payment systems. We offer payment infrastructures that form the plumbing of the financial system. Though less visible than banknotes and coins, these infrastructures are key to our monetary and financial integration.

Retail and wholesale payments are hence an integral part of our tasks at the central bank. We issue cash, supply reserves…