“Without a meaningful digital Euro, our dependence will deepen as US-backed private digital currencies are gaining ground.”
Sustainable Finance Lab has posted an open letter signed by 70 European Academicians supporting a central bank digital currency (CBDC) or digital Euro. The supporters included economists and former central bank officials.
Sustainable Finance is an academic think tank based at Utrecht University’s School of Economics. Their mission is to drive change in sustainable finance.
The signees told the European Parliament to push back against financial-sector lobbyists and “protect the digital Euro.” The letter told policymakers to “resist the shortsighted financial lobby.”
The group stated:
“Across the European Union, digital payments rely heavily on providers based outside Europe, primarily in the United States. In many countries, no domestic alternative exists. At the same time, cash use continues to decline, while private digital payment services expand rapidly. This trend weakens Europe’s control over a core part of its economic infrastructure. Payment systems shape financial stability, data protection, and resilience during crises. The academics argue that a digital euro issued by the European Central Bank can address these risks by giving citizens access to public money in digital form.”
They advocated for user privacy and a digital currency that worked both on and off line.
“The question facing EU policy makers is simple: will Europeans assert control over their money in the digital age, or do we allow others to control it for us?”
Azimkhon Askarov, co-CEO & Partner of CONCRYT, reflected on the letter stating that ultimately the debate is about Europe’s digital sovereignty.
“For companies like CONCRYT that operate across borders, resilient, neutral and European-controlled payment infrastructure is not an abstract policy issue, but something that directly affects efficiency, competition and long-term stability. Today, much of Europe’s day-to-day commerce depends on non-European payment rails. That creates strategic dependencies that businesses cannot mitigate on their own. A well-designed digital euro, with clear limits and strong safeguards, would strengthen Europe’s economic resilience without replacing banks or private innovation. We agree with the economists that this should not be diluted into a symbolic project. If Europe wants to remain competitive in the digital economy, it needs core financial infrastructure that is fit for purpose, future-proof, and governed in the public interest.”
In the US, the concept of a retail CBDC backed by the dollar is effectively dead. Legislation, the GENIUS Act, has outlined the structure of payment stablecoins to emerge as the preferred method to digitize the dollar.
Privacy concerns were the main impediment to a CBDC, as while policymakers may claim to protect individual privacy, for some the temptation may prove too great. In China, where a CBDC is already in use, government officials have admitted they may use the digital yuan to impact policy.
While privately issued digital Euros are already in circulation, the sector is dominated by privately issued digital dollars. With the legalization of payment stablecoins in the US, many new entrants, including chartered banks, have entered the marketplace.
Policymakers in the US believe that digital dollars will boost the greenback as the world’s reserve currency while fueling global interest in US Treasury.