Following today’s adoption of the Parliament’s negotiating position on the digital euro and the single currency package in the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, the ECR Group stressed that any new digital payment option must not come at the expense of cash or citizens’ freedom of choice.

Stephen Bartulica, ECR Shadow Rapporteur on the digital euro, said:

“Cash must remain a real choice. Any digital euro must complement cash, not replace it. We will have to monitor very closely how this project develops in practice.

“Cash must not be gradually phased out or made impractical in daily life, and citizens must not be pushed into a cashless society through the back door.”

Bartulica added:

“Freedom of payment means that citizens decide how they pay. For many people, including older citizens, rural communities and small businesses, cash is still essential in daily life. It is tangible freedom: private, resilient and independent of technical infrastructure. Whatever happens with the digital euro, access to and acceptance of cash must be protected in practice, not only on paper.”