EU Committee Backs Digital Euro to Cut Reliance on Visa and Mastercard

European Union lawmakers on Tuesday pushed the bloc closer to issuing a digital euro, backing a package in committee that would let consumers hold central bank money in a phone wallet and pay at shops across the EU. The vote is the most concrete step yet in a multi-year plan to chip away at the 61% of euro area card payments that run through Visa and Mastercard, with a final plenary vote scheduled for early July.

The Italian lawmaker who steered the file called it “historic.” The harder fights, over how much to pay the banks that distribute the new currency and how much of it any individual can hold, are still ahead.

Committee Greenlights the Digital Euro

The Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee on Tuesday adopted its position on a single currency package of three files, according to the European Parliament’s press release on the vote.

The central file was adopted alongside two companion files covering the distribution of digital euro services in non-euro member states and the legal tender status of euro banknotes and coins. The package now heads to a plenary vote in Strasbourg in early July, after which negotiations with the EU’s 27 member states begin.

“The approval of the regulation on the digital euro is a major victory for citizens and small businesses,” said Italian MEP Pasquale Tridico, who negotiated the file on behalf of The Left group, describing the vote as “historic”.

The European Central Bank welcomed the result in a statement, saying the package would safeguard euro cash as legal tender while shaping the digital euro.

The 61% Problem Behind the Vote

The committee’s reasoning rests on a statistic the European Central Bank first published in February 2025. Across the euro area, international card schemes accounted for approximately 61% of euro area card payments in 2022, with national schemes making up the remaining 39%. In 13 euro area countries, those national schemes have already fallen away entirely, leaving every card transaction to run through foreign operators, per the ECB’s February 2025 report on card schemes.

• 70 billion card payments in the EU in 2023
• 54% of all non-cash transactions in the bloc
• 61% of euro area card payments routed through international schemes
• 13 euro area countries rely entirely on those foreign networks

That dependence has become harder to ignore as sanctions and seizures have shown what it means to lose access to dollar-based payment rails. The same report notes the share of national schemes drops to 37% once euro area cardholders buy from non-euro area merchants, because national schemes can only execute card transactions within their own country.

What the Wallet Will and Won’t Do

The wallet the lawmakers envision is built to be optional, not exclusionary.

“With the single currency package, we are protecting citizens’ freedom to choose how they pay. We are strengthening access to and acceptance of cash, while making central bank money available in digital form. The digital euro will complement cash, never replace it,” said rapporteur Fernando Navarrete Rojas of the European People’s Party.

All payment service providers, including banks, e-money providers, post offices, and regulated crypto-asset providers, could distribute the digital euro across the EU. Most businesses would be required to accept it. Exceptions would apply to the self-employed and to small and micro enterprises that do not currently accept other digital payments.

• Online and offline payments, with offline transactions processed through local storage devices
• Zero-knowledge proofs that verify transactions without exposing personal data
• The ECB with no access to personal identification data
• An EU-level holding cap on individuals, set by the Commission on ECB advice and reviewed at least every two years
• Businesses barred from holding digital euros for longer than 24 hours
• No interest paid or charged on any holding

Basic services would be free of charge for users, and merchant and inter-provider fees would be capped, with offline payments entirely fee-free.

The Fight Over Who Pays the Banks

If the vote settles the political direction, the next six months will settle who pays for it. Merchants, banks, and EU member states disagree on how to compensate the financial institutions that distribute the digital euro, and the outcome will determine how cheap it is to take.

EuroCommerce, the trade body for European retail and wholesale, has pressed lawmakers to commit to a “better off” principle, meaning merchants must pay less for a digital euro transaction than they pay for a card transaction today. The group’s preferred model is a flat 4 cent fee on transactions of 40 euro and above, per EuroCommerce’s April 2026 statement on merchant fees. The Council of the EU, by contrast, agreed a position in December 2025 that framed merchants as “no worse off” rather than “better off.”

The framing matters because the digital euro is mandatory acceptance. Most businesses will be required to take it. That tilts the negotiating table toward whoever controls the fee structure, and the banks that distribute the new currency are pressing for a compensation model that reflects the absence of credit risk and the cost of running the rails. Parliament wants full decision-making powers over the individual holding cap, a structural choice that lets lawmakers ratchet the limit up or down as adoption data comes in.

The Digital Euro Joins a Global CBDC Race

Brussels is not alone in trying to break dependence on foreign-controlled payment infrastructure.

The United States has gone the other way. President Donald Trump has abandoned plans for a Federal Reserve-issued central bank digital currency and instead backed stablecoins, privately issued crypto assets designed to maintain a stable value. Because the vast majority of global stablecoins are denominated in US dollars, supporters argue the technology could reinforce the dollar’s international role in cross-border payments.

Some in Washington still see a digital dollar returning. Timothy Massad, former chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, told CoinDesk in May that discussions continue and a digital dollar may ultimately prove unavoidable, per Euronews reporting. For now, the gap between US and EU strategy is widening, with Europe moving first on a public retail CBDC and the US relying on private dollar tokens.

From Strasbourg Vote to a 2029 Launch

If Parliament formalises the committee’s position in early July and the Council agrees before the end of the year, the ECB’s stated timeline allows for digital euro issuance during 2029.

Between authorisation and launch sits a roll-out period of at least 24 months for banks, providers, and users to prepare, along with a rulebook finalised by the ECB, real-life pilot tests, and liability rules for offline risks including double-spending, per the ECB’s progress page on the digital euro rollout.

What changes for Visa and Mastercard depends on uptake, not on the vote. The committee has signalled a direction, not a displacement, and the banks that distribute the new currency are largely the same institutions that issue cards today.

Frequently Asked Questions

When will the digital euro launch?

The ECB’s progress page states the digital euro could be issued during 2029 if EU lawmakers adopt the regulation in the course of 2026. Before launch, the ECB must finalise a rulebook, complete real-life pilot tests, and complete a roll-out period of at least 24 months after authorisation.

Will the digital euro replace Visa and Mastercard?

It is designed to complement cash and existing payment services, not replace them. Its stated purpose is to reduce the EU’s structural dependence on international card schemes, not to force them out. Merchants that take cards today will still take cards; they will also be required to take the digital euro.

Can the ECB see my transactions?

No. Privacy-by-design and privacy-by-default principles would be built into the digital euro. The European Parliament’s adopted text says the ECB would not have access to personal identification data, and transactions would be verified using zero-knowledge proofs that confirm validity without exposing details.

How much digital euro can one person hold?

The adopted text does not fix a number. MEPs proposed that the EU-level cap be set by the Commission, based on ECB recommendations, and reviewed at least every two years. Businesses are barred from holding digital euros for longer than 24 hours except to accumulate incoming payments.

Will cash disappear?

No. The third file in the package requires euro area countries to keep cash accessible, bans businesses from refusing cash through ‘no cash’ signs or standard contract terms, and obliges member states to monitor cash availability with attention to vulnerable groups such as the elderly, low-income individuals, and the unbanked.