The European Parliament could prevent the ECB from issuing a national digital currency, according to Fabio Panetta, a member of the regulator's board of directors.
According to him, doubts about the value of CBDC among lawmakers are growing.
Panetta has commented:
"There should be a political decision to issue [a digital euro], and then the central bank should be ready to respond. [...] If that call [not to go ahead] is done at the political level, via the European Parliament, and the European Union’s Council, I cannot see any chance of the ECB deciding autonomously or independently to progress."
Subscribe to our Telegram channel to get daily short digests about events that shape the crypto world
The governing council member has called on parliamentarians to pass new laws that would secure the status of a means of payment for CBDC. He has cited a study of the Central Bank, according to which citizens consider the ability to pay anywhere as the "most important feature" of the national digital currency.
He has explained:
"We want to be sure that in any situation, in any circumstance, we will have a framework that would allow all European citizens to pay everywhere in a safe and efficient manner at cheap costs."
According to Panetta, the ECB is exploring a way to make the tool available to the 5% or so of the population that does not have or does not want to have a bank account, including making KYC checks through post offices, online or through other intermediaries.