EU lawmakers skeptical of digital euro as ECB renews pitch

Europe’s central bank pitched the digital euro as a backup in a crisis, but some EU lawmakers still had doubts over its design and use.

The European Central Bank (ECB) renewed its push to issue a digital euro, drawing pushback from EU lawmakers over privacy protections and potential risks to commercial banks.

ECB board member Piero Cipollone told a parliamentary economic committee on Thursday that a digital euro “will ensure that all Europeans can pay at all times with a free, universally accepted digital means of payment, even in case of major disruptions.”

Some parliamentarians pushed back over concerns that the digital currency wouldn’t protect user privacy, and that offering accounts backed by the central bank would undercut the private sector.

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