Digital Euro: negotiations enter final stretch before November 5

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The digital euro is Frankfurt's answer to dollar stablecoins.

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A trilogue is the back room of European legislation. The negotiators from Parliament, the Presidency of the Council (Irish since July) and the Commission bring together two texts voted on separately. The Council adopted its mandate on December 19, 2025 under the Danish presidency, the Parliament adopted its position on July 9, 2026. Since then, five political meetings.

On October 8, according to the report from Agence Europe, positions became even closer on the status of legal tender. Merchants will have to accept the digital euro, the list of exceptions remains to be written. The cash aspect is also moving forward, with the ban on unilaterally excluding cash and sanctions for those who do so.

On October 20, the menu focused on the cap on offline payments, anti-money laundering controls on small amounts and long-term financing of infrastructure. The experts continued on the 21st on personal data, then on October 27 and 28 on the use of the digital euro outside the euro zone.

The next political trilogue is set for November 5. The Commission wants a law finalized before December 31, in line with its “One Europe, One Market” roadmap.

First node, the ceiling. You will not be able to store a fortune in digital euros, everyone agrees on that, to prevent deposits from fleeing from banks to the ECB. It remains to be determined who sets the figure. Parliament wants the Commission to decide this by delegated act. The Council is calling for an implementing decision from the Member States by reinforced qualified majority, details the Freshfields firm. The amount of 3,000 euros which has been circulating since 2023 comes from the preparatory work in Frankfurt, as we explained when the ECB announced the 3,000 euros. Nothing is engraved in the text.

Second node, businesses. Parliament wants a virtual ban on detention for legal entities, included in the regulation. The Council prefers to leave control to the ECB, which could set a ceiling at zero. For an SME, the difference is real. Cashing in digital euros without being able to keep them for five minutes, or not seeing any at all.

Machine-translated from French