making certain resilience and inclusion in digital funds

Introductory assertion by Piero Cipollone, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, on the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament

Brussels, 4 September 2025

It’s my pleasure to be again for our common replace on the digital euro.

This is the ECB’s fourteenth alternate of views on the digital euro with this Committee. I’ve personally had the honour of addressing you 5 occasions. Our earlier discussions lined a variety of points, together with the preservation of entry to central financial institution cash, the digital euro’s position as an anchor for financial and monetary stability, the necessity to safeguard strategic autonomy and the advantages the digital euro would have for varied stakeholders.^[1]

Today I wish to deal with two dimensions which have acquired much less consideration however are nonetheless basic for making the euro match for the long run: resilience and inclusiveness. In an more and more digital world uncovered to new geopolitical and operational dangers, we should shield the euro’s availability for all Europeans always. Article 133 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union reminds us of our shared accountability to safeguard the integrity of our foreign money and take the measures which might be essential for its continued use.^[2]

As a digital type of money issued by the European Central Bank, the digital euro will complement bodily money, which stays key for resilience and inclusion.^[3] The digital euro will make sure that all Europeans pays always with a free, universally accepted digital technique of fee, even in case of main disruptions.

Strengthening resilience within the digital age

At current, with the core of our digital fee programs supplied by non-EU suppliers,^[4] our capability to behave swiftly and independently – significantly in occasions of disaster – might be constrained.^[5]

Digital funds deliver many benefits reminiscent of velocity, comfort and effectivity. But they crucially rely on the energy of our digital infrastructure. And when essential providers are interrupted, residents count on public authorities to make sure continuity. So what would occur if we weren’t able to make sure funds continuity? We could be blamed for not having acted after we may.

Payment providers aren’t a luxurious however are as important to each day life as electrical energy or clear water. As a fundamental service, there have to be a fee resolution that’s all the time obtainable to all. This is particularly essential in at present’s world of rising geopolitical tensions and ever extra subtle cyberattacks.

Recent EU initiatives to strengthen civil and army readiness and improve the EU’s capacity to forestall and reply to threats have underscored the significance of getting ready for excessive disaster eventualities, and we should take this accountability critically.^[6] Incidents such because the sabotage of undersea cables within the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea are stark reminders of how fragile our infrastructures could be.

And disruptions aren’t solely the results of geopolitics or safety crises. Think of the ability and community outages in Spain and Portugal this previous spring, throughout which many individuals had been unable to pay as a result of they’d no money readily available. Such occasions present why safeguarding our system is important. Europeans flip to us on the ECB – and to you, the co-legislators – for decisive motion and sensible steps to forestall such upsets sooner or later.

Today, money is our solely true fallback and we’re strongly dedicated to making sure that it stays obtainable, accessible and accepted all through the euro space.^[7] But as society more and more strikes away from money, and as money itself could also be troublesome to entry in emergencies, particularly if money distribution networks are disrupted, we have to complement it with a digital model.^[8]

Against this background, the digital euro can have a significant impression. Not simply as a technological innovation, however as a public good that strengthens Europe’s resilience. The EU Council is already making progress on this course, with invaluable contributions from a number of Member States which recognise the pressing have to strengthen our resilience.^[9]

The digital euro would actually assist enterprise continuity in occasions of disaster by offering extra fee rails on prime of the prevailing non-public options. In different phrases, by having different fee choices in place, we’d improve resilience by making certain that there’s all the time spare capability within the system.

In phrases of resilience, three options of the digital euro stand out.

First, the technical infrastructure for processing transactions might be distributed throughout not less than three completely different areas, every outfitted with a number of servers. In the occasion of a regional catastrophe or cyberattack, this can permit funds to be routinely rerouted, making certain uninterrupted operations.

Second, the ECB will develop a devoted digital euro app that might be made obtainable to all and can permit customers to change simply between fee service suppliers providing the digital euro. Under regular circumstances, this fallback possibility will guarantee flexibility. But within the occasion of a cyberattack on a number of suppliers, it might assure continuity. For instance, if a cyberattack brought about the outage of a financial institution’s personal app, however the financial institution’s backend providers had been nonetheless functioning, prospects would nonetheless be capable of entry their accounts with that financial institution by way of the ECB’s digital euro app. Or if a financial institution turned unable to function in any respect, its prospects may use the ECB’s digital euro app to simply change to a financial institution that has not been affected by the cyberattack.

This dimension of resilience is one cause why we on the ECB have beneficial that the laws on the digital euro makes it obligatory for fee providers suppliers to assist the digital euro app supplied by the ECB.

Third, the offline performance^[10] will present an additional layer of safety by permitting funds to be made even when web connectivity is disrupted or money is difficult to entry – for instance, throughout an influence outage or a pure catastrophe.^[11] It is due to this fact very important that the laws ensures residents can simply and securely entry the digital euro offline, together with by way of choices reminiscent of setting offline funds because the default^[12] and computerized funding of offline holdings.^[13]

The digital euro’s sensible advantages for inclusion

Now let me flip to inclusion.

As public establishments, we should make sure that nobody is left behind as we transfer to an much more digital financial system. For many years, money has been a cornerstone of economic inclusion – providing accessibility, autonomy and belief.^[14] We can not afford to lose these advantages by way of inaction.

Safeguarding inclusion have to be greater than a precept – it should translate into sensible steps that tackle the limitations folks face of their each day lives, as additionally highlighted by European shopper associations.^[15]

These limitations are actual. They vary from not proudly owning a smartphone, to restricted digital literacy, to consumer interfaces that aren’t designed with accessibility in thoughts.^[16] To offer you an concept how necessary accessibility is, greater than 30 million Europeans are blind or partially sighted and not less than 34 million are deaf or onerous of listening to. If we’re to construct a very inclusive digital financial system, as we’re mandated to do within the fee area, we should additionally cater for the accessibility wants of those residents – and lots of others.

The digital euro, as a public good, would assure entry for all residents – irrespective of the place they dwell, how a lot they earn or how digitally expert they’re. Our technique for this process is two-pronged.

The first side of our technique is technological design. The ECB will make it possible for the digital euro is designed to be inclusive from the bottom up. We are working intently with associations that characterize weak teams to higher perceive their wants in order that we will construct the expertise round them.^[17]

We are additionally conducting consumer analysis, together with focus teams with weak and digitally excluded shoppers, to know how the digital euro can mitigate entry limitations and tackle different ache factors. And we’re exploring adaptive consumer interfaces – reminiscent of voice instructions, large-font shows and simplified workflows – in order that the digital euro will work for folks with accessibility wants or restricted digital literacy.

These particular options might be supported by the ECB’s digital euro app, which can give customers quick access to fundamental digital euro providers and can transcend the necessities of the European Accessibility Act.^[18] The want for inclusiveness as soon as once more underscores the significance of requiring all fee service suppliers to assist an app supplied by the ECB.

The second side is buyer assist on the nation stage. We are participating with entities that might present devoted assist if designated by a person Member State – reminiscent of native authorities, libraries and publish places of work. These entities may present free help and entry to digital euro providers. which might be a sensible approach of serving to these most vulnerable to digital exclusion.

Conclusion

Let me conclude by stressing that resilience and inclusion are cornerstone options of money, they usually should stay so within the digital age. Legal tender should all the time be accessible to everybody in our financial space.

As we put together a digital authorized tender – the digital euro – to enrich bodily money, it’s our shared accountability to deliver these trusted options of money into the digital period. This will keep confidence in our foreign money, the euro.

The ECB is supporting the continued work by the European Commission and EU Council on resilience and inclusion. But for the digital euro to really improve the resilience of funds within the euro space, it should first grow to be a actuality.

Last March euro space leaders referred to as for stepping up the tempo on a digital euro, notably to “support a competitive and resilient European payment system and contribute to Europe’s economic security”.^[19] Progress within the legislative course of will permit us to maneuver ahead in parallel and supply Europeans with a transparent and particular timeline for after they can count on the digital euro to grow to be a actuality, making certain quick access to a resilient technique of fee that can shield Europe’s financial safety.

Thank you on your consideration.