.svg)
Despite ongoing debate over the merits of introducing a digital euro, the announcement of a timetable for relevant legislation demonstrates the EU’s commitment to its creation.
Fernando Navarrete, the MEP overseeing the digital euro legislation, has announced likely deadlines for the regulation.
The topic has so far proven divisive in the European Parliament, with critics including Navarrete himself.
“We are closing a key stage in the European Parliament’s work on the digital euro,” Navarrete wrote on LinkedIn.
He noted that a “process of active listening” has taken place, including with stakeholders from the payments industry, addressing financial stability, privacy, distribution models, costs, market alternatives and international comparisons.
Forthcoming deadlines
Although Navarrete said that the Parliament is “still in the process of finding the best possible approach to provide a response that adapts to the reality of our time” and that “provides a response tailored to the challenges and needs of Europe”, he outlined the intended timeline for the legislation.
The publication of the report proposal will come in the last week of October, followed by a presentation of the report to the Committee on Economy and Monetary Affairs (ECON) on November 5/6 2025.
The deadline for amendments is December 12, 2025, and the debate of amendments in the ECON will be on January 28/29, 2026.
The negotiation meetings between the political groups are due to happen between January and April 2026, and the vote in the ECON is expected by May 2026.
The plan for the digital euro
The announcement of the timetable for the digital euro rules has been a long time coming, with MEPs having delayed progress on the legislation.
The European Commission originally proposed the digital euro regulation on June 28, 2023 as part of its Single Currency Package, establishing the legal framework for a potential central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the euro area.
The proposal followed the ECB’s investigation phase (2021–2023) and coincided with the start of a two-year preparation phase in November 2023.
The intention with the regulation was to make the digital euro legal tender, complementing cash rather than replacing it.
It would be distributed through banks and payment service providers (PSPs), allowing citizens and businesses to use it for everyday euro-area transactions. The proposal emphasised privacy and data protection, with minimal data collected for compliance and stronger privacy in offline payments.
Key design features include holding limits to prevent its use as a store of value, no interest on balances, offline functionality to ensure usability without internet access and basic services free to consumers.
The legislation allows conditional payments but rules out fully programmable money. Overall, the framework seeks to preserve monetary sovereignty, maintain trust in public money and provide a secure, accessible digital means of payment for Europeans.
Divided opinion
The digital euro has been a polarising topic in the European Parliament, especially between left and the right.
As covered by Vixio, during a recent parliamentary hearing centre-left MEP Jonás Fernández said that “it is time to get down to it,” expressing disappointment that more progress has not been made in the two years since the European Commission unveiled its legislative proposal.
However, Fernando Francisco Navarrete Rojas, another MEP representing Spain, warned: “We have an overcomplicated project with different features, all of them are nice and the objectives are nice, but it can be extremely costly.”
He added that the compensation model might prevent parts of the system from recouping costs, especially considering caps on what merchants pay and the impact that this could have on PSPs.
“It is asking for a disaster to come,” he said.
Navarrete himself published an article over the summer in which he questioned the need for the digital euro. In the piece, he set out “why a digital euro does not appear to be the solution, and in some cases it is not even the most optimal solution from a cost benefit perspective, to any of these problems”.
The article prompted a backlash, with the campaign group Positive Money stating that “Navarrete’s case against the digital euro misses the bigger picture”.
Right-wing MEPs have also questioned the digital euro’s design and public engagement. In September 2025, Germany’s Siegbert Frank Droese highlighted the ECB’s public design contest, questioning whether citizens’ involvement in currency aesthetics is compatible with comprehensive digital euro monitoring.
Similarly, Dutch MEP Auke Zijlstra cited low public interest and questioned the ECB’s credibility as a payments provider following its handling of inflation since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Political challenges
The digital euro roadmap illustrates the EU’s commitment to exploring a CBDC, but the political and technical divisions will remain a challenge.
The proposed legislative timetable marks tangible progress, yet scepticism among MEPs underscores cost, complexity and public acceptance concerns.
Design features, such as offline functionality, privacy safeguards and limits on holdings, aim to balance usability with monetary stability, but implementation will require careful coordination with banks, PSPs and regulators.
Political divergence, particularly between centre-left and right-wing MEPs, signals that compromise will be essential in shaping the final legislation.
Overall, although the EU is advancing its CBDC agenda, the success of the digital euro will hinge on reconciling technical feasibility, stakeholder interests and public trust across member states.
