EU Finance Ministers’ Group Wants Digital Euro to Offer Privacy

• As per finance Ministers, Digital Euro must offer privacy as well as transparency.
• Eurogroup said that CBDC could encourage the Bloc’s autonomy benefit citizens and businesses.
• Finance Ministers are considering environmental consequences of the digital euro design.

Eurogroup which is a group of Finance Ministers within the European Union (EU) have said that they want Digital Euro to offer privacy as well as transparency. As per the statement, the Eurogroup has held regular discussions on the subject of digital currency.

Eurogroup believed that a Central Bank Digital Currency(CBDC) could encourage the Bloc’s autonomy and be beneficial for citizens and businesses.

In a statement, Eurogroup said:

To succeed, the Digital Euro should ensure and maintain users’ trust, for which privacy is a key dimension and a fundamental right.

The members of the group also believe that the Digital Euro must be safe and resilient as well as easy to use and widely accessible especially when it comes to the costs for end-users. Finance Ministers are also looking at the environmental consequences of the Digital Euro design.

Apart from this, ministers have also highlighted that the digital euro must abide by policies like preventing money laundering, illicit financing, and tax evasion. The digital currency must also ensure sanctions compliance.

A Digital Euro should not be a replacement for cash but should complement it. Digital Euro should allow euro area users to access central bank money in times of increased digitalization in payments, stated the press release.

The statement concludes by noting that Digital Euro will be issued depending on EU legislative developments. At a later stage, the European Commission will put forward a proposal in the first half of this year that will introduce the digital euro and set up its main features.

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