Digital euro legislation planned for next year, EU official says

The European Union is set to formally consider legislation around a digitized euro in 2023.

A senior official from the European Commission announced the move Wednesday, which was first reported by Politico. 

“Our goal is to table legislation in early 2023,” Mairead McGuinness, EU Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and the Capital Markets Union, told the publication. “A targeted legislative consultation in the coming weeks.”

As previously reported, the path to a digital euro is a slow one, with European officials stressing that any prospective launch is years away. Research in this area is being pursued by the European Central Bank (ECB) in conjunction with elements of the European Union’s governing apparatus.

In October, the ECB formed a 30-person advisory group focused on the digital euro, drawing from the banking and payments sector to constitute its membership. As other central banks around the world have said with respect to their own CBDC projects, officials in Europe say that any digital euro launch would require coordination with the private sector.