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OPINION (COM(2023)0369 – C90219/2023 – 2023/0212(COD))

On the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the establishment of the digital euro

LIBE-AD-775581

Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs · Rapporteur: Emil Radev

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The committee opinion amends the proposed regulation on the digital euro to strengthen privacy, data protection, and inclusion, and to clarify rules on acceptance, holding limits, and non-euro area access.

Committee position. The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs proposes amendments to strengthen privacy, data protection, and inclusion in the digital euro regulation.

Key points

  1. The digital euro should complement cash, not replace it; citizens and businesses retain the right to choose any legal tender form.
  2. Member states whose currency is the euro must provide free information and education on the digital euro, including fundamental rights aspects; non-euro states may do so with ECB cooperation.
  3. Exemptions from mandatory acceptance are extended to natural persons receiving income, pensions, or allowances, and to microenterprises and non-profits; additional exceptions may be added by delegated acts if necessary and proportionate.
  4. Digital euro users in the euro area include asylum seekers and those without residence permits but unable to be expelled; AMLA and EBA must issue guidelines on AML/CFT and basic services.
  5. ECB limits on digital euro holdings must consider financial stability and consumer interests; conversion to cash must always be unrestricted.
  6. Offline digital euro privacy must be safeguarded; ECB may set separate offline and online holding limits to protect privacy, and offline use must not enable tracking or control.
  7. Basic digital euro services must be free; bundling with non-digital services must not increase the package price; PSPs must not charge for basic services.
  8. Non-euro area member states may offer digital euro under arrangements ensuring equal conditions; ECB must cooperate actively and provide information.
  9. ECB front-end solutions must make it technologically impossible to identify users; open standards preferred; data protection by design and default required in settlement infrastructure.
  10. Switching digital euro accounts must be free; PSPs must enable it; in insolvency, user holdings are unaffected.
  11. Fraud detection mechanism must ensure PSPs and ECB cannot directly identify users; pseudonymisation and data minimisation required.
  12. Personal data processing for digital euro is strictly limited to listed types; delegated acts must maintain closed lists; authentication should not rely on biometric data by default.

Who is affected

  • Payment service providers: must offer free basic services, ensure privacy, and enable free account switching.
  • Microenterprises and non-profit entities: exempt from mandatory acceptance of digital euro.
  • Vulnerable groups (disabled, elderly, asylum seekers): entitled to free digital inclusion support and access.
  • Non-euro area member states and third countries: may offer digital euro under voluntary arrangements with equal conditions.
  • Digital euro users: benefit from enhanced privacy, free basic services, and unrestricted conversion to cash.

Figures and deadlines

  • Microenterprise threshold raised to fewer than 50 persons or annual turnover/balance sheet not exceeding EUR 5 million.