The digital euro is increasingly mentioned as one of the key projects through which the European Union aims to strengthen its monetary and technological autonomy. It is a potential digital form of money that would be issued by the central bank and would be available to citizens for everyday payments, alongside existing cash and private digital payment methods. The future of this project was discussed at the Money Motion conference by the governor of the Croatian National Bank, Boris Vujčić, and N1 journalist Hrvoje Krešić.
Vujčić emphasized that he hopes the digital euro project will receive the necessary political support in European institutions. According to his expectations, voting in the European Parliament could take place as early as this summer, while the first pilot project could start in 2027.
The digital euro is not the abolition of cash
According to his interpretation, the digital euro also represents a response to current geopolitical circumstances. He believes that its introduction could provide a strong political and strategic impetus to the European Union, especially in the context of increasing competition from global financial and technological systems.
The conversation also opened the question of the future of cash. Krešić asked whether the digital euro means a gradual abolition of physical money, to which Vujčić jokingly replied that he has ‘his signature on every banknote’ and that he is a strong advocate of cash. He emphasized that cash will not disappear, but that the digital euro should be viewed as its digital equivalent, or as a form of central bank money adapted to the digital age.
The digital euro, he said, would become an official means of payment. For citizens, its use would not be mandatory, but merchants would have to accept it. Citizens could use it without a fee, while merchants would pay a certain fee for acceptance, although significantly lower than today’s card payments.
