On 23 June 2026, the European Parliament voted 416 to 143 in plenary to adopt its negotiating mandate on the proposed digital euro regulation, formally opening the trilogue stage of the EU legislative process. The first trilogue meeting between the Parliament, the Council of the EU, and the European Commission took place on 13 July 2026. The Council adopted its general approach in December 2025; EU co-legislators aim to reach a final agreement under Ireland's Presidency of the Council, which runs until 31 December 2026.
The digital euro proposal is grounded in Article 133 TFEU, which grants exclusive EU competence over monetary policy for eurozone member states, and was introduced by the Commission in June 2023 as part of a single currency package. The proposal designates the digital euro as legal tender across the eurozone, requiring merchants above a size threshold to accept it, and designates credit institutions and payment service providers as mandatory distribution intermediaries. Key contested provisions between the Parliament and Council in trilogue include the individual holding cap — the Parliament favours higher caps to maximise retail uptake — the offline peer-to-peer payment mechanism, a Parliament-mandated 24-month phased rollout, and the scope of transaction-data privacy protections relative to intermediary surveillance.
Credit institutions, payment institutions, and electronic money institutions designated as intermediaries must offer retail customers digital euro wallets at no charge and accept digital euro payments at the point of sale once the regulation enters into force. Firms operating existing payment infrastructure face integration obligations with the European Central Bank's digital euro technical platform. The ECB retains exclusive control over issuance, supply volume, and the interest rate structure applicable to individual holdings; commercial intermediaries handle distribution and customer onboarding.
The co-legislators face unresolved points on the holding cap, which has direct monetary transmission implications and affects the degree to which bank deposits could migrate to digital euro wallets; on privacy architecture, where the Parliament favours greater transaction anonymity than the Council's position allows; and on the treatment of non-eurozone EU member states. A failure to conclude under the Irish Presidency would carry negotiations into the Lithuanian Presidency from 1 January 2027.
Licentium monitors EU digital currency legislation for clients in banking, payments, and digital assets and may advise on regulatory positioning as the digital euro framework develops. Banks and payment service providers assessing their obligations as prospective intermediaries, or firms reviewing intersections with MiCA licensing, are welcome to contact us. Work we undertake includes digital payment regulatory analysis, EU legislative monitoring, CBDC compliance structuring, MiCA authorisation support, and EU payment institution licensing.
Source: European Parliament, Digital Euro — Legislative Train Schedule