The EU Commission and the European Central Bank have announced that they will work together on the technical implementation of the digital euro. “We need a digital euro. This requires the digitization of the economy and finance, ”said the Vice President of the EU Commission, Valdis Dombrovskis, on Wednesday in Brussels.
Brussels“We observe that the importance of cash is gradually declining. A digital euro is an additional way of paying and saving,” added the Latvian politician. The digital euro should, however, only complement cash, not replace it. “We are setting up a joint group of experts in order to clarify the institutional, legal and practical aspects of creating a digital euro,” explained Dombrovskis, according to the Handelsblatt.
ECB President Christine Lagarde had previously emphasized: “We will have a digital euro.” This will not happen tomorrow, “it will take some time to ensure that there is something that is safe”. She estimated that the e-euro will be available in five years. It will be issued and controlled by the ECB.
The digital euro is going to be kept in a kind of virtual wallet, according to EU sources. Payments should be possible both online and offline via an app. The account on which E-Euros are stored belongs to the ECB, but it is going to be managed by the commercial banks.
Contrary to some forecasts, cash retained its top position in payments in the Corona year 2020. According to the Deutsche Bundesbank, 60 percent of all transactions in Germany were made with coins and bills. This was followed by debit cards with 23 percent. Compared to three years ago, however, cash decreased by 14 percentage points, which is also due to the fact that purchases on the Internet have increased.
Help us to produce more articles like this. FreeWestMedia is depending on donations from our readers to keep going. With your help, we expose the mainstream fake news agenda.