The European Commission is to work alongside the European Central Bank (ECB) in probing a range of ‘policy, legal and technical’ pitfalls that could emerge as part of plans to introduce a digital euro crypto-currency in mid-2021.
The move comes just a week after the ECB closed a public consultation on the efforts, which resulted in ‘privacy’ being the number one concern among stakeholders.
EURACTIV understands that staff working across Commission departments, including Financial Services, Economy and Digital Affairs, will be mobilised to form part of a new group working alongside colleagues at the ECB to explore “the possibility of issuing a digital euro, as a complement to cash and payment solutions supplied by the private sector.”