The European Parliament voted to start negotiations with the EU Council on the digital euro, which offers citizens a secure way to reduce their dependence on suppliers outside the Union.
With 416 votes "in favor", 169 votes "against" and 22 "abstentions" for the creation of a digital euro and by raising the hand of payment service providers outside the euro area, the European Parliament agreed to move to the next stage of the legislative process.
The main points of Parliament's negotiating position:
The digital euro will be a new electronic form of money issued by the European Central Bank (ECB) and will work online and offline.
The digital euro will include privacy safeguards. Transactions will be verified without revealing personal data, which will be processed only to the extent strictly necessary for the functioning of the system.
Most businesses will be required to accept the digital euro. Exceptions will apply to the self-employed and small and micro-enterprises that do not accept other digital payments.
Basic services, such as opening an account, holding and managing funds and accessing at least one payment instrument, will be free of charge.
To protect the financial system, there will be a cap on how many digital euros each person can hold.
Banks and payment service providers (PSPs) from EU countries outside the euro area will be able to distribute the digital euro.
Euro area countries will be obliged to maintain access to cash, businesses will not be allowed to ban cash, and member states will have to regularly monitor the availability of cash, paying particular attention to vulnerable groups such as the elderly, people on low incomes and people without access to the traditional banking system.