euro

Published on 16/02/2026 – 18:22 GMT+1•Updated
18:32

Failing to recognise that it is now essential to advance the digital euro is harming Europe, German Vice-Chancellor and Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil told journalists on Monday, ahead of a meeting of euro area ministers in Brussels.

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The digital euro, a legislative proposal currently being discussed among the European Union’s institutions, is currently blocked in the European Parliament, where MEPs working on the file are struggling to come to an agreement.

“All I can say is that anyone who, in this situation, has not understood that it is now essential to advance the digital euro as quickly as possible is not serving Europe, but harming it. And everyone responsible for making decisions must be aware of that,” Klingbeil told journalists.

Spanish centre-right MEP Fernando Navarrete of the the European People’s Party (EPP), who is leading the work on the file, is now proposing a new design for the digital euro, which would essentially reduce the scope of the tool as outlined by the European Commission.

The EPP is divided over the digital euro, with the German delegation actively in favour. If the Parliament cannot agree a position on the file, the legislation will not be able to move forward.

What is the digital Euro?

The digital euro would be an electronic form of cash issued by the ECB, and would serve as an additional form of payment supplementing the cash and cards issued by commercial banks.

“We want to move the digital euro forward because it is important for the sovereignty of our continent, but cash will, of course, remain”, the vice-chancellor clarified.

Unlike everyday card payments, where payments are “private”, the digital euro would allow citizens a direct use of digital “public” money, now mainly available in the form of cash.

Under the European Commission’s proposal, the digital euro would include a digital wallet that could be used both online and offline, with payments not trackable.

An alternative to Visa and Mastercard

The digital euro proposal has surged in importance thanks to economic tensions between the EU and the US, offering as it does an alternative to Visa and Mastercard, the two US-based payment systems used in everyday life by most Europeans.

“Today, when a European customer makes a card payment, it is most often executed by a US firm”, Peter Norwood, senior research and advocacy from the NGO Finance Watch told Euronews.

In Europe, Mastercard and Visa account for 61% of card payments and nearly 100% of cross-border ones, according to data from the European Central Bank data from 2025.

“That gives foreign actors meaningful leverage over the day-to-day functioning of the European economy. A properly designed digital euro, with both online and offline functionality, would give Europeans a publicly backed digital payment option. One that keeps costs down, protects privacy and ensures European control over critical payments infrastructure”, Norwood added.

However, in Navarrete’s proposal, the digital euro would not be an alternative means of payment to Visa and Mastercard.

The European Parliament is expected to vote on the digital euro in May. If the legislation passes, there will begin negotiations between the European Commission, European Parliament and the Council of the EU.

Forty-eight EU lawmakers added a passage in support of the digital euro in an annual report on the European Central Bank (ECB) that will be voted on Tuesday.

Although the document has no legislative effect, the vote on the amendment will publicly show where support for the digital euro stands.

The digital euro would be an electronic form of cash issued by the ECB, and would serve as an additional form of payment supplementing the cash and cards issued by commercial banks.

Unlike everyday card payments, where payments are “private”, the digital euro would allow citizens a direct use of digital “public” money, now mainly available in the form of cash.

Under the European Commission’s proposal, the digital euro would include a digital wallet that could be used both online and offline, with payments not trackable.

The digital euro proposal has surged in importance thanks to economic tensions between the EU and the US, offering as it does an alternative to Visa and Mastercard, the two US-based payment systems used in everyday life by most Europeans.

EU’s legislative politics

The proposal has already been backed by EU countries in the Council, leaving the Parliament as the last co-legislator to take a position on the file.

However, the Parliament is experiencing a political deadlock, with the MEPs working on the proposal having difficulty agreeing on a common vision for the digital euro’s design.

In particular, the leading rapporteur on the file, centre-right Spanish MEP Fernando Navarrete, is proposing to reduce the digital euro’s scope, for instance by designing it solely for offline use. In that scenario, the digital euro would not be an alternative means of payment to Visa and Mastercard.

While the centre-right European People’s Party will likely be divided over the proposal in the vote, many far-right parties have expressed sharp disagreement to the proposal. Last week, the Spanish far-right party Vox asked the European Commission to withdraw it altogether.

In the passage that will be voted on Tuesday seen by Euronews, signatories ask for support for “an online and offline digital euro” that “should contribute to safeguarding universal access to payments” and not rely on solely private and non-European providers.

The signatories describes the design and the scope of the digital euro as in the European Commission proposal: “a complement to cash and private banking services […] to strengthen European monetary sovereignty, reduce fragmentation in retail payments and support the integrity and resilience of the single market”.

Supporters of the amendment

The passage in the report, which supports the original proposal of the European Commission with a larger scope for the digital euro, was proposed by Italian MEP Pasquale Tridico of the Five Stars Movement, which currently sits in The Left group at the European Parliament.

“Today we are totally dependent on the big American players – Visa and Mastercard – and this makes the EU weak and dependent on Trump’s decisions,” Tridico told Euronews, adding that delays and boycotts by minorities at the European Parliament are “counterproductive”.

“If the American president woke up one day and decide to cut Europeans off from digital payment circuits, European citizens would no longer be able to make purchases using credit cards, which are by far the most widely used means of payment today.”

The amendment in support of the digital euro has attracted the support of MEPs from several political groups, including the centre-right European People’s Party, the Socialists and Democrats, Renew Europe, the Greens and The Left.

Brothers of Italy, the party of the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in the European Conservatives and Reformists group (ECR), will vote in favour of the amendment, according to a Parliament official who spoke to Euronews in condition of anonymity.

At the time of publication, no other MEPs from ECR, Patriots for Europe or Europe of Sovereign Nations have expressed support.