ECB publishes third progress report on the digital Euro

The European Central Bank (ECB) has once again folded into an exercise to which she is now accustomed: the publication of her progress report on the progress of her projectDigital euro. This is the third such report published by the institution to date. In particular, this edition highlights a particular feature planned for the digital euro, concerning its offline operation.

FACTS

• The publication of the ECB's third report on the preparation of its digital euro represents a new stage in its ongoing work on the subject, after the publication of the ECB's third report. last December's. At the time, the ECB was particularly concerned with clarifying the positions of theDigital uro other initiatives.

• Last February, the ECB announced It also intends to expand its efforts to develop an interoperable solution with existing infrastructures.

• Today, it is mainly the question of Offline operation of the digital euro which is at the heart of the ECB's work. The issue is all the more important as it concerns continuity of service, including in the event of a network failure or a power outage.

• The availability of non-connection payments, the automatic activation of security measures during interruptions, and the ability of traders to cash in payments without electricity are major issues.

ISSUES

• Focus on co-creation : The ECB specifies to rely on the feedback of experts, consumers and traders to ensure its preparatory work. It thus capitalizes on the feedback of future users and market specialists to propose a relevant and efficient system. It also points out that this work of testing and co-creation involves nearly 70 market participants, responsible for drawing up the Rulebook Development Group, and embedded on a specific platform to explore cases of use of the digital euro. They test features such as conditional payments (which can be triggered automatically under certain conditions).

• Advance with mastery and weight : Despite the progress of this work, the ECB continues to stress that these advances lay only the basis for the ever-potential issuance of a digital euro. The Central Bank still does not confirm the validity of the project in the long term or its implementation.

• Scale risks However, working on offline payment functionality represents a commitment by the ECB to preserve the inclusion and resilience of payments for all citizens (including in areas with little digital coverage).

PERSPECTIVE

• The issue of the operation of offline payment systems is a major issue for institutional actors today. Systems are increasingly dependent on telecommunications networks. However, the geopolitical context and threats to sabotage existing communication tools raise concerns about cuts that would imply paralysis of current payment systems.

• The European Central Bank thus emphasises this specific theme in order to ensure the effective deployment of the digital euro. This particular question also led, recently, another working group involving Northern countries this time. It specifically concerned the deployment of an offline card payment system in their territory.

• This work is part of the efforts made to sovereignty European actors in recent months.

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