“Merchants are not just participants in the digital euro project – they are its driving force,” said Executive Board member Burkhard Balz during an event in Brussels.

Representatives from politics, business and trade discussed the opportunities and challenges presented by a digital euro during the conference entitled “The digital €uro: a game changer for European merchants.”

Strengthening Europe’s sovereignty

In his introductory statement, Mr Balz pointed out that nearly two-thirds of all card payments in the euro area are currently settled by non-European providers. This dependence poses risks to Europe’s autonomy. The digital euro could help to reduce this reliance and strengthen European sovereignty. He stressed that Europe needs its own competitive payment infrastructure, providing real added value not only for consumers but also for retailers. 

According to Mr Balz, the digital euro promises retailers major advantages, such as seamless payments, greater resilience and a more competitive payments market. In particular, for those operating across multiple countries, the digital euro offers the possibility of integrating a single payment method in all their systems.

Mr Balz stressed that the digital euro is not about replacing existing payment methods but about complementing them. It is crucial that the digital euro is cost-effective and competitive in order to meet merchants’ practical requirements.

Alongside Mr Balz, Valdis Dombrovskis, European Commissioner for Economic Affairs and Productivity, and Christel Delberghe, Director General at EuroCommerce, spoke about the strategic role of the digital euro for European sovereignty and trade.

Ms Delberghe made specific demands on the Eurosystem: in order to make the digital euro attractive to merchants, fees must be lower than for existing digital payment methods. She proposed a simple and uniform cap of 4 cent per transaction and stressed the need for the seamless integration of offline wallet functionality, i.e. a payment option that can also be used without an internet connection.

The speeches were followed by two rounds of discussions with Alexandra Hachmeister (Deutsche Bundesbank) and Evelien Witlox (ECB),Fernando Navarrete Rojas (MEP), Nikos Papandreou (MEP), Damian Boeselager (MEP) s as well as experts from trade, politics and finance. Focus was placed on aspects such as acceptance, innovation and strengthening independence in European payments.

The discussions showed that low costs, ease of use and close cooperation between the public and private sectors are crucial factors in ensuring the success of a digital euro.