Interview with Piero Cipollone, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, conducted by Manuel V. Gomez on 22 January 2026

28 January 2026

The ECB has used the current complex geopolitical situation as an argument in defence of the digital euro. Do you think that the events we’ve seen this year, such as Venezuela and Greenland, strengthen this case?

Put like that, it sounds like we are introducing the digital euro as a defensive measure against something or someone. That isn’t really correct. The ECB is mandated to provide means of payment and promote the smooth functioning of the payments system. Looking at the situation in Europe, we might ask ourselves whether these two requirements are met, or whether the payments system is so fragmented that we don’t have a digital way to pay seamlessly across Europe without relying on non-European providers. We might also ask if that system is resilient.

We provide both retail and wholesale payment methods. At the retail level, we offer…