Overview
- The European Parliament approved a negotiating mandate on Thursday with 416 votes in favor, 169 against and 22 abstentions to begin interinstitutional talks with member states on rules for a digital euro.
- Lawmakers want negotiations to start next week and aim for a final agreement by the end of 2026 so the European Central Bank can run pilots and keep open the option to issue the currency in 2029 if it chooses.
- The Parliament’s position requires both online and offline use, with offline payments working device‑to‑device without central settlement and leaving no central record to mirror cash privacy.
- Privacy rules in the text call for transaction anonymisation so the ECB would not identify individual users, while practical distribution would go through banks and payment providers and basic citizen services would be free.
- To limit risks to banks, the Parliament demands per‑user holding caps whose exact amounts will be set with input from the ECB, and it will negotiate measures to protect cash access as some political groups oppose the plan.