欧洲央行执行委员会成员皮耶罗·西波洛内近日接受采访时介绍了数字欧元的最新进展。欧洲议会以近70%的支持率通过了数字欧元方案[1]，计划于2027年9月启动为期12个月的试点项目[1]。欧洲央行和国家央行已选定36家欧洲支付服务提供商参与试点，其中包括法国的BPCE和Worldline[1]。
在成本方面，欧洲央行估计数字欧元的总开发成本约为13亿欧元，年运营成本约为3.2亿欧元[1]。欧盟银行在四年内为数字欧元做准备的成本不会超过其年IT系统更新预算的3.4%[1]。西波洛内强调，数字欧元在设计时充分考虑了隐私保护和网络安全，离线支付将提供现金级别的隐私保护，在线支付时央行将无法知道付款人身份[1]。
西波洛内表示，"数字欧元将保护欧洲人自由选择支付方式的权利"[1]，并指出"数字欧元是严格意义上的技术解决方案，但在当前地缘政治背景下也带来了额外的好处"[1]。
Piero Cipollone, a member of the European Central Bank's Executive Board, outlined the advancement of the digital euro initiative in a recent interview. The European Parliament approved the digital euro proposal with nearly 70% support [1]. Cipollone emphasized that the project's design prioritizes privacy protection and cybersecurity, with a 12-month pilot program scheduled to launch in September 2027 [1]. The ECB and national central banks have selected 36 participating institutions, including France's BPCE and Worldline [1].
The digital euro pilot will involve significant infrastructure investment, with the ECB estimating total development costs of approximately 1.3 billion euros and annual operational costs of around 320 million euros [1]. Cipollone stressed that the initiative will provide privacy safeguards comparable to cash for offline transactions, while online payments will prevent the central bank from identifying the payer [1]. Financial institutions preparing for the digital euro over four years will incur costs not exceeding 3.4% of their annual IT system update budgets [1].
Cipollone stated that "the digital euro will safeguard the freedom of Europeans to choose how they pay" and described it as "a technical response in the truest sense of the word. But it also brings benefits in the current geopolitical context" [1].