BRUSSELS (Realist English). The European Union’s plan to introduce a digital form of cash cannot move forward unless the European Parliament agrees on a common position, but deep divisions among lawmakers are threatening to derail the project, according to sources familiar with the talks.
Members of the European Parliament are struggling to reach a compromise on the very nature of the digital euro, jeopardising its legislative path, three sources told Euronews, citing internal documents and email exchanges.
During a meeting on Tuesday, parliamentary rapporteurs acknowledged that disagreements over the core design of the digital euro remain unresolved. “We agreed to disagree,” one person familiar with the discussions said, summarising the outcome of the talks.
According to the meeting agenda, Fernando Navarrete, the European People’s Party (EPP) rapporteur leading the file, proposed a revised concept described as “e-cash”. Under this model, the digital euro would be used only for offline payments and function as a tokenised digital version of cash, without giving users retail accounts on the ledger of the European Central Bank. Navarrete’s office did not respond to requests for comment before publication.
Other political groups have taken a different view. The Socialists and Democrats (S&D) and Renew Europe continue to back the European Commission’s original proposal, which would allow users to hold retail accounts on the ECB’s ledger and use the digital euro both online and offline.
“Europe must own and control its critical infrastructure,” said Nikos Papandreou, the S&D shadow rapporteur on the file. “At a time of profound geopolitical change and the erosion of the rules-based international order, payment sovereignty must be anchored in common infrastructure,” he told Euronews.
The European Parliament is now the only EU institution yet to formally adopt a position on the digital euro. EU member states agreed their stance in December, increasing pressure on lawmakers to break the deadlock.
A plenary vote is expected in May, but the ongoing divisions risk blocking approval. Even if the proposal passes the vote, negotiations between the European Commission, the European Parliament and the European Council cannot begin until the Parliament has agreed on a unified position, leaving the future of the digital euro uncertain.
