On the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the establishment of the digital euro
LIBE-AD-754988
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs · Rapporteur: Emil Radev
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The committee opinion proposes amendments to the digital euro regulation, focusing on privacy, data protection, financial inclusion, and the coexistence of cash and digital euro.¶ It requires that the digital euro complement cash, not replace it, and that information measures be free of charge.¶¶ It exempts microenterprises and non-profits from mandatory acceptance, and allows additional exceptions via delegated acts.¶¶ It strengthens privacy by design and default, limits data processing, and ensures offline transactions are not tracked.¶¶¶ It ensures basic services are free, including for vulnerable groups, and that switching accounts is free of charge.¶¶¶
Committee position. The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs proposes amendments to strengthen privacy, data protection, and financial inclusion in the digital euro regulation.¶
Key points
- The digital euro should always complement physical cash and not replace it; citizens and businesses should have the right to use either form or a combination.¶
- Member States whose currency is the euro should deploy free information and educational measures on the digital euro, including its benefits and fundamental rights aspects.¶
- Exceptions to mandatory acceptance of digital euro payments should apply to natural persons acting in a purely personal or household activity, those receiving income, pension or government allowance, microenterprises, and non-profit legal entities.¶
- The Commission may adopt delegated acts to introduce additional exceptions to mandatory acceptance, only if necessary, proportionate, and preserving legal tender status, with other means of payment available.¶
- Digital euro users residing or established in the euro area, including asylum seekers and those without residence permits but unable to be expelled, may be provided services; AMLA and EBA should issue guidelines on AML/CFT and basic services.¶¶
- The ECB should set holding limits considering financial stability and consumer interests; conversion of digital euro to other forms, including cash, should always be unrestricted.¶¶
- The ECB may consider separate holding limits for offline and online digital euro to protect privacy, and offline digital euro should not enable tracking or control of spending.¶¶
- Basic digital euro payment services should be free of charge for natural persons residing in the euro area, including no transaction fees; inclusion of basic services in a package should not affect the price of the package.¶
- Payment service providers should not charge users for costs of basic digital euro services, and switching digital euro payment accounts should be free of charge.¶¶¶
- The ECB should actively cooperate with non-euro area national central banks for cross-currency payments, and arrangements should ensure equal conditions for users in non-euro area Member States.¶¶¶
- The ECB should prefer open standards for compatibility with private payment solutions, and front-end services should make it technologically impossible for the ECB to identify individual users.¶¶¶
- Data protection by design and by default should be embedded in the settlement infrastructure, and personal data processing should be minimized and pseudonymized.¶¶¶
Who is affected
- Payment service providers: must offer free basic services, ensure privacy, and comply with data minimization.¶¶¶
- Microenterprises and non-profit legal entities: exempt from mandatory acceptance of digital euro payments.¶
- Vulnerable groups (elderly, disabled, asylum seekers): entitled to free digital inclusion support and access to basic services.¶¶¶
- Non-euro area Member States: may voluntarily adopt digital euro with arrangements ensuring equal conditions.¶¶
- European Central Bank: must ensure privacy, consult EDPS, and consider separate holding limits.¶¶¶