Towards 2030: The European Central Bank's (ECB) New Currency

For years, the European Central Bank (ECB) has been developing the "digital euro." This digital currency is not a cryptocurrency and is not connected to one in any way. It is an electronic form of the euro issued by the ECB, which guarantees it has the same value as physical cash or bank deposits.

The main goals of the digital euro are:

• A secure form of payment (guaranteed by the ECB).
• Lower costs for sending money (intermediaries, i.e., banks, are excluded, so there are no bank fees).
• Simplified money transfers via a mobile application developed by the ECB.
• A complement to cash, not a replacement.
• Increased resilience of the European payment system (reducing dependence on foreign card schemes and cryptocurrencies).
• Financial inclusion and interoperability throughout the Eurozone.

The development and security of the Digital Euro with the help of standards

The Digital Euro is being developed not only based on banking and payment standards but also with the help of European standards from various other fields.

The ECB is collaborating with European standardization bodies (ETSI, CEN, CENELEC) to define and ensure interoperable protocols. ETSI is responsible for security, cryptography, and eIDAS (as the EU insists on a single electronic identity), CEN handles cards, identification, offline tokens, and interoperability, while CENELEC is in charge of the technical and hardware security of devices.

Key standards involved include:

• ISO 20022, the most important standard for financial messages, digital wallets, encryption, and privacy protection.
• EN 15480 is the standard for smart cards and applications.
• ETSI TS 119 312 – Electronic Signatures and Trust Infrastructures (ESI); Cryptographic Suites.
• ETSI TS 119 511 – Electronic Signatures and Infrastructures (ESI); Policy and security requirements for trust service providers providing long-term preservation of digital signatures or general data using digital signature techniques.
• ETSI EN 319 401 – Electronic Signatures and Trust Infrastructures (ESI); General Policy Requirements for Trust Service Providers.
• Personal identification, electronic signatures, and card standards belonging to the scope of CEN/TC 224.  
• The digital euro must comply with the PSD2 (Payment Services Directive) and the future PSD3 Directive, which are EU regulations related to payment services.
• It must also comply with standards for preventing money laundering and terrorist financing, as well as those for privacy protection, as an offline payment method is being considered where transactions would be anonymous up to a certain limit.
• Compliance with the NIS2 Directive (cybersecurity in the EU) and cryptographic standards (e.g., SHA-3, AES-256).
• The digital euro would have to be compliant with GDPR.

The Digital Euro is expected to be launched by 2030. The new currency faces challenges related to security and data privacy. However, transactions will be cheaper because banks are bypassed as intermediaries, and they will also be faster. This new payment option will not be mandatory, but it will have numerous advantages over conventional models. For this reason, this currency will deservedly receive much more attention in the future.