Interview with Piero Cipollone, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, conducted by Ricardo Jesus Silva on 29 June 2026

13 July 2026

The European Parliament gave the digital euro the green light last week. Do any major hurdles still remain or is the way clear for the project to be implemented?

There are currently three versions of the draft legislation: the European Commission’s, the Council’s – representing the joint position of Member States – and the Parliament’s. The three institutions will already start negotiating this month to reach an agreement on the final text. We hope the text will be finalised by the end of the year, at which point we’ll be in a position to take a decision on the future issuance of the digital euro.

The vote in the European Parliament last week was a very important milestone, particularly because some lawmakers were initially more critical of the Commission’s proposal. However, the text that was ultimately approved aligns closely with the…