The Regulation establishing the digital euro was proposed within the Single Currency Package back in June 2023 by the European Commission. More than two years after the Commission’s proposal, the Council adopted its negotiating mandate for the file on 19 December 2025. Meanwhile in Parliament, discussions have been led by MEP Fernando Navarrete (EPP, Spain) inheriting the file from MEP Stefan Berger (EPP, Germany) in the 2024-2029 mandate. MEP Navarrete’s work as rapporteur is accompanied by shadow rapporteurs MEP Nikos Papandreou (S&D, Greece), MEP Damian Boeselager (Greens, Germany), MEP Gilles Boyer (Renew, France), or MEP Stephen Nikola Bartulica’s (ECR, Croatia). On 29 January, the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) Committee debated the 1525 amendments that were tabled by MEPs on 22 December 2025. This demonstrated both the variety of opinions and the importance that the file holds.
Rapporteur Navarrete’s draft report
MEP Navarrete published his draft report on 5 November 2025 proposing drastic changes to the Commission’s proposal. During the ECON Committee debate, he called for the construction of a partial but minimum compromise, politically balanced but robust for negotiations with the Council. MEP Navarrete stated that all political parties “shared a common diagnosis of the problem” and are responsible for the design of a good tool, but that the digital euro cannot be assessed in isolation from the rest of the payments ecosystem. He warned about changes in the geopolitical situation compared to 2023, and shared his view that sovereignty in the field of payments should be diversified and not rely on a single tool. He advocated for the development of private solutions, stressing that they should take the lead and that public options should only reinforce the system. The rapporteur also touched on his proposal for an offline digital euro as a tokenized version of cash and reiterated that PSPs should be rightly compensated.
The view of the shadows: a public solution as the best support for payment sovereignty
The shadow rapporteurs opposed Navarrete’s proposals. From the Socialists and Democrats (S&D), MEP Nikos Papandreou defended the digital euro’s status as a legal tender and voiced his opposition to the view of private systems being the answer to European sovereignty. Instead, MEP Papandreou said that ownership of the infrastructure is what can really ensure autonomy and resilience. On financial stability, he cited the ECB and Bundesbank’s statements that the digital euro would strengthen rather than weaken it. Finally, the MEP advocated for “freemium being the new normal” with the digital euro, saying that as the digital euro is public money, it should be used as such and not as a revenue model. The opinion of Renew’s Boyer was on the same line as MEP Papandreou’s, proposing two key principles for the digital euro: its reinforcement of strategic autonomy and the provision of a pan-European payment system. The French MEP stressed that the European solution should be proposed to Member States, regardless of whether national solutions already exist. However, the digital euro will be a tool that allows users to choose. MEP Boeselager, for the Greens, agreed on the ever-present need for sovereignty and a digital payment method for a world that becomes more digitalised by the day.
Merchant’s priorities on the digital euro
Merchants believe that the digital euro has the potential of bringing competitiveness to the EU’s payments landscape by reducing dependence on non-European card schemes, opening the Single Market’s doors to a more diverse payment offer. This could potentially benefit both merchants and consumers, as well as the EU’s strategic autonomy and competitiveness. Nevertheless, it is crucial that the digital euro be accompanied by measures to make it attractive and cost-effective for merchants. For that reason, Ecommerce Europe together with the Merchant Payments Coalition has been proposing measures such as a simple and uniform cap of 4 cents per transaction for the total Merchant Service Charge (MSC) instead of the caps proposed in the regulation. Without this low-cost incentive, the risk of lower merchant and subsequent consumer adoption is higher. The digital euro must be a user-friendly, cheap, and practical alternative to the current card schemes, allowing for a consumer-focused and merchant-ready payment solution.