欧洲中央银行执行委员会成员皮耶罗·齐波罗内在意大利合作信用银行联合会年会上阐述了数字欧元的核心理念。[1]数字欧元将由欧洲系统发行、由银行分发，作为数字公共货币以适应支付方式的数字化趋势，同时保护欧洲支付基础设施的主权。[1]这一举措应对了欧盟地区面临的支付体系风险——三分之二的卡支付交易采用非欧洲方案处理，且欧元区21个国家中有13个缺乏国家卡计划。[1]
根据计划，数字欧元试点项目将于2027年9月启动，涉及36家支付服务提供商。[1]若立法程序按时在年底前完成，数字欧元预计可在2029年首次发行。[1]该项目预估投资成本为40亿至58亿欧元，投资周期为四年。[1]欧洲议会已以近70%的投票支持通过了数字欧元立场，为项目推进奠定了政治基础。[1]
数字欧元将不支付利息，并设置持有限额作为额外保障措施。[1]该安排旨在维持银行在支付生态中的关键角色，同时为公众提供现代化的支付选择。移动支付在爱尔兰、荷兰和芬兰已超过十分之一的销售点交易，反映了欧洲支付方式变革的加速。[1]
Piero Cipollone, a member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank, outlined the policy vision behind the digital euro project during an address at the annual meeting of the Italian cooperative credit banks federation in Rome [1]. The digital euro, to be issued by the European system and distributed through banks, is designed to address the shift toward digital payments while protecting European payment infrastructure sovereignty and preserving banks' central role in the payment ecosystem [1].
Under the proposed timeline, a pilot program involving 36 payment service providers is scheduled to launch in September 2027, with the digital euro potentially entering circulation in 2029 if legislative procedures are completed by year-end [1]. The initiative comes against a backdrop of significant payment infrastructure dependencies in Europe: two-thirds of card payments across the EU are processed through non-European solutions, and thirteen of the twenty-one eurozone countries lack national card schemes [1]. The total investment cost for the project is estimated between €4 billion and €5.8 billion over four years [1].
The digital euro has already garnered substantial political support, with the European Parliament approving the initiative with nearly 70 percent of votes [1]. The new currency will not bear interest, with holding limits established as an additional safeguard [1].