During an address to the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, ECB Executive Board Member Piero Cipollone underscored the central bank’s commitment to preserving payment freedom amid rapid technological change. Delivered on 3 June 2026 in Brussels, the statement highlights how the ECB is ensuring that euro-area citizens retain choice between traditional cash and digital solutions.
Cipollone emphasized that guaranteeing access to cash remains a fundamental responsibility of the ECB.
He welcomed the bundling of legislative proposals on cash legal tender and the digital euro into a unified “Single Currency Package.”
This approach reinforces the idea that both forms represent the same currency, differing only in their medium.
The ECB backs the cash legal tender proposal, which aims to standardize acceptance and availability rules across the eurozone, addressing declining merchant acceptance rates observed in recent years.
The ECB is also modernizing physical currency. Banknote redesign efforts are progressing, with themes narrowed to “European culture” or “Rivers and birds.”
A final decision is expected by the end of 2026, paving the way for the first new denominations in the early 2030s. These notes will feature improved security and more environmentally sustainable production methods.
A significant portion of the update focused on the digital euro project.
Cipollone outlined two major recent developments: cooperation agreements with European standard-setting organizations and preparations for an upcoming pilot phase.
Standards, he noted, function like a common language for payment technologies, enabling interaction between devices and terminals.
Europe currently relies heavily on proprietary international card schemes, which constrains local innovation and scalability.
To counter this, the digital euro will introduce uniform, open European standards across the region, backed by its anticipated legal tender status.
In May 2026, the ECB signed agreements with key bodies, including those behind CPACE (for contactless tap-to-pay), nexo, and Berlin Group specifications.
These will support online payments and allow private European payment solutions to expand more efficiently without costly adaptations.
Merchants and payment service providers can incorporate these standards into upcoming terminal and system upgrades, lowering future costs and accelerating adoption.
Cipollone stressed that technical readiness must be matched by legislative certainty.
Only formal adoption of the digital euro framework can ensure these standards apply uniformly, enabling European players and enhancing payment autonomy.
The ECB is also gearing up for a comprehensive piloting exercise scheduled to begin in the second half of 2027. Following a call for expressions of interest from payment service providers (PSPs) that closed in mid-May, the ECB received over 50 applications.
These reflect a balanced mix of institution sizes, business models, and geographic coverage. Selections will be announced in July 2026, with development starting in Q3.
The pilot will test real-world functionality for person-to-person and person-to-business payments in controlled settings, gathering valuable feedback from participants. Cipollone pointed to the symbolic milestone of 1 January 2027—the 25th anniversary of euro cash circulation.
Completion of the Single Currency Package would demonstrate Europe’s ability to evolve its money while protecting citizens’ payment freedoms. Cash and the digital euro, he concluded, are complementary sides of the same coin, together upholding monetary sovereignty and choice. This strategy positions the ECB to navigate digital transformation without compromising the overall accessibility that physical currency provides.