It could be a while before European Union gets a central bank digital currency, if it gets one at all.<\/p>\n
In a Wednesday interview with Bloomberg Television,\u00a0European Central Bank\u00a0President Christine Lagarde laid out the complex decision-making process with which the bank will determine the future of a digital euro.<\/p>\n
The ECB will soon release its analysis of eight thousand responses received from its digital euro consultation process. \u201cThat will be communicated to the European Parliament which is one of the key players as well as the Commission and the Council with which we operate,\u201d she stated.<\/p>\n
Based on that consultation, alongside the parliamentary work, the ECB\u2019s Governing Council will decide whether the institution will begin experimenting with a CBDC by mid-2021.<\/p>\n
Following an initial experimentation phase, the council would then hold a six-month or a one-year assessment on whether to roll out the digital euro, Lagarde stated.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe whole process \u2014 let\u2019s be realistic about it \u2014 will in my view take another four years, maybe a little more. But I would hope we can keep it within four years,\u201d she said, adding:<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause it\u2019s a technical endeavor as well as a fundamental change because we need to make sure that we do it right. We owe it to Europeans, they need to feel safe and secure. They need to know that they are holding a central bank-backed […] equivalent of a digital banknote. […] We need to make sure that we\u2019re not going to break any system, but enhance the system.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Lagarde also mentioned that some financial intermediaries have expressed concerns about the ECB launching a CBDC. She said that these intermediaries will continue to co-exist with the new ecosystem as well as cash, which \u201cwill also continue to be available.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
As previously reported by Cointelegraph, the ECB launched a public consultation on a potential digital euro in October 2020.\u00a0<\/p>\n