As global tensions rise and economic relationships become more fragile, the debate over who controls Europe’s money is getting sharper.
According to European Central Bank executive board member Piero Cipollone, geopolitics is no longer a side issue in payments policy — it’s now front and center.
In his view, the case for a European-controlled digital payments system has never been stronger.
Why the Digital Euro Is More Than a Tech Upgrade
Speaking in an interview with Spanish newspaper El País, Cipollone framed the digital euro as something simple but powerful: public money in digital form.
Not a replacement for cash, but a modern companion to it.
With shopping habits shifting rapidly online and across borders, he said Europe’s payments ecosystem has become fragmented and increasingly reliant on non-European players.
That shift matters. Cash, once dominant, now makes up just 24% of the value of everyday transactions — a steep drop from 40% in 2019.
For the ECB, Cipollone argued, this trend creates a responsibility to rethink how public money is provided in a digital-first economy.
Control, Not Convenience, Is the Core Concern
For Cipollone, the digital euro debate isn’t just about speed or ease of payment. It’s about sovereignty.
He warned that in a world where “every conceivable tool” can be weaponised, Europe cannot afford to depend too heavily on foreign-owned payment systems.
His vision is a retail payments infrastructure built with European technology, governed in Europe, and resilient to external pressure.
The goal, he said, is to meet all of Europe’s payment needs without creating risky dependencies on non-European schemes.
Legal Tender Means Everyone Plays by the Same Rules
One of the most striking points Cipollone made concerns acceptance.
Because the digital euro would have legal tender status, any merchant that already accepts digital payments would be required to accept it as well.
In practice, that would make digital euro payments hard to ignore — and potentially universal across the EU.
A Catalyst for Private Innovation, Not a Replacement
Critics have argued the ECB should pause and wait for private companies to deliver a pan-European payments solution.
Cipollone pushed back hard on that idea. He noted that the ECB has been encouraging the private sector to do exactly that for years, with limited success.
Rather than squeezing out banks and fintechs, he said a digital euro built on a single, open standard could finally give them a common foundation to work from — making a truly unified European retail payments layer more realistic than ever.
Why Offline-Only Isn’t Enough
Cipollone also rejected the idea that the digital euro should exist only for offline use.
One of the main problems the project is meant to solve, he pointed out, is Europe’s lack of a strong, homegrown payment option for e-commerce.
An offline-only system simply wouldn’t work for online shopping, subscriptions, or cross-border digital services.
Pressure Is Growing Inside Europe Too
His remarks come shortly after an open letter signed on January 11 by around 70 economists and policymakers.
The group urged EU lawmakers to put the public interest first and warned that continued delays could further entrench Europe’s dependence on powerful private and non-European payment providers.
Silence From the ECB Office, For Now
Cointelegraph contacted Cipollone’s office for additional comment following the interview, but no response had been received at the time of publication.
What’s Next?
With geopolitical uncertainty intensifying and Europe’s payments landscape still divided, the digital euro is no longer just a future experiment.
The debate now is whether Europe moves fast enough to shape its own financial infrastructure — or continues relying on systems it doesn’t fully control.
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