Christine Lagarde's decision to step down as president of the European Central Bank nearly nine months early will not slow the digital euro project, according to an ECB official speaking at the Web Summit in Lisbon on Tuesday.
Alessandro Giovannini, adviser to the digital euro programme manager, pointed to the pilot scheduled for next year and a commitment from EU lawmakers to agree on the legal framework by the end of 2026. "I'm not afraid that any change or anything will impact it, because this is a strategic project," he said during a panel moderated by Euronews, describing the digital euro as "a European project" rather than the ECB's alone.
Lagarde announced last month that she would leave on 7 February 2027. Her departure follows that of Isabel Schnabel, who steps down from the ECB's Executive Board in January, and chief economist Philip Lane, whose mandate expires in May. As Brussels negotiates the digital euro law, the leadership changes have raised questions about continuity, but Giovannini insisted the project's momentum is independent of any single individual.
Final stretch in Brussels
In March, EU leaders called for negotiations on the digital euro law to be concluded by the end of this year, ahead of the pilot programme scheduled for 2027. "This is the commitment that we have from the co-legislators," Giovannini said, referring to the European Parliament and EU governments. The two sides have been in trilogues—three-way talks with the European Commission—since July. The latest round took place last Thursday, and Ireland, which chairs the talks for member states, is reportedly aiming for a deal on 18 November.
One unresolved issue is how fees merchants pay will be calculated, a key part of the digital euro's business model. The ECB aims to be ready for a first issuance in 2029, with technical preparations advancing independently of the legislative process.
In July, the ECB selected 36 banks and payment firms, including Deutsche Bank, UniCredit, and Stripe, for a 12-month pilot starting in the second half of 2027. Last month, it chose network providers, including payments firm Nexi and telecoms group Telefónica, to connect them to its platform. The first pilot transactions will come "in less than one year," Giovannini said, adding that the firms building the system were all "European companies controlled by other European companies."
Banks will not pay for the shared infrastructure, as it will be "paid by the ECB" and "offered for free by the ECB to everyone," Giovannini explained. The ECB has estimated development costs of around €1.3 billion before a first issuance, and running the system about €320 million a year from 2029—costs that eurozone central banks would bear, similar to banknotes.
Is Europe behind?
Europe trails China, which has been piloting its digital yuan since 2019, while the US has taken a different route with the GENIUS Act, passed last year, which left the field to private stablecoins—crypto tokens pegged to currencies like the US dollar. "The best moment to plant a tree was yesterday," Giovannini acknowledged, adding that "Europe has its own time and we need to also accept the legislative pace that comes with that." Ultimately, he said, "that we are not losing time" is what matters.
The wait until 2029 reflects the scale of the task, with more than 4,000 payment providers and millions of merchants to coordinate. The digital euro aims to reduce Europe's reliance on international card schemes such as Visa and Mastercard. ECB board member Piero Cipollone said last week that in 13 eurozone countries, card payments in shops run entirely through non-European firms.
Unlike China, which since January has let banks pay interest on digital yuan wallets, the digital euro will pay no interest. "As you don't get yields on your banknote, you're not going to get yields on the digital euro," Giovannini said, though banks and fintech firms could offer their own rewards.
Privacy fears
Critics warn that a central bank digital currency could let the state monitor, or even control, people's spending, but Giovannini disagreed. Holding up a €20 banknote, he explained that offline digital euros—sent by tapping phones without an internet connection—would work like cash. "I'm tapping your phone and no one will know that I've given €20 to you," he said. The system would only check that the token was genuine, leaving "no digital footprint that this comes from me and went to you, or comes from my bank."
However, such payments will be subject to limits, which lawmakers have been negotiating to curb money laundering and terrorist financing risks. For online payments, banks would know who paid whom, as they do today, but the ECB would only see pseudonymised data.
The digital euro is a cornerstone of Europe's push for strategic autonomy in payments, a theme that resonates beyond the ECB. As Spain's renewable surge shows, the continent is willing to accelerate transitions when the political will exists. Whether the digital euro will follow suit remains to be seen, but the ECB's message from Lisbon is clear: the project is on track, regardless of who sits in the president's office.
