Digital euro legislative progress: Parliament signals support for a dual digital euro

Brussels, February 2026

Last week’s developments in the European Parliament highlight a growing disconnect between the strategic ambition behind the digital euro and the political dynamics currently unfolding in Parliament.

This tension is playing out across two parallel parliamentary tracks: the legislative negotiations on the Digital Euro Regulation in the ECON Committee, and Parliament’s scrutiny of the European Central Bank’s Annual Report.

Discussions in the ECON Committee have slowed under the weight of disagreements around a fundamental question: whether the digital euro should remain a limited, primarily offline instrument, or whether it should reflect the original vision put forward by the European Commission and supported by the Council and the European Central Bank (ECB): a digital euro available both online and offline.

At the same time, related amendments tabled in the context of the ECB Annual Report have increasingly been used by MEPs to clarify political positioning on precisely this question, without reopening technical design choices in the legislative text.

The rapporteur’s preference for an offline-only or offline-first approach has triggered pushback across political groups. MEPs across political groups have tabled amendments explicitly reaffirming that the digital euro must support both online and offline use cases, in line with the Commission’s legislative proposal and the Council’s agreed position. These amendments are now at the heart of the parliamentary debate.

From a policy perspective, the distinction matters. An offline digital euro alone cannot meet Europe’s strategic objectives in payments, resilience, and monetary sovereignty. While offline functionality is essential for cash-like use cases, resilience and inclusion, online functionality is indispensable for e-commerce, programmable payments, interoperability with existing payment infrastructures, and Europe’s competitiveness in an increasingly digital and globalised payments landscape.

The ECB has been clear in recent public remarks: prolonged legislative uncertainty risks loss of momentum and weakens Europe’s ability to shape the future of public digital money on its own terms. That warning stands in stark contrast to the current parliamentary impasse, where amendment overload risks delaying clarity rather than refining it.

Today, 10 February 2026, the European Parliament reinforced the broader political direction of the digital euro debate by formally adopting, by wide cross-party majorities, two amendments to the ECB Annual Report (amendments 40 and 41). While non-legislative, these amendments are directly relevant to the current impasse in ECON: they explicitly endorse a digital euro that combines online and offline functionality, reaffirming the original ambition set out by the European Commission and supported by the ECB and the Council.

Beyond general references to access or sovereignty, the amendments speak directly to the core fault line in Parliament’s legislative debate. They position the digital euro as a fully functional public means of payment for the digital economy, while preserving offline, cash-like features for resilience, inclusion and privacy. Their adoption sends a clear political signal that, despite ongoing disagreements on implementation details, a broad majority in Parliament aligns on the digital euro’s fundamental scope and purpose. 

The responsibility now lies with Parliament to carry this alignment through to the legislative file – in the ongoing shadow rapporteur negotiations, the rapporteur’s approach in ECON ahead of the upcoming vote, and ultimately in trilogue. Preserving the full scope of the digital euro is no longer a question of principle, but of political consistency and delivery.

The Digital Euro Association firmly supports a dual-mode digital euro – online and offline – as originally envisaged. This approach strikes the necessary balance between:

• preserving cash-like features and privacy protections,
  
• ensuring usability in the digital economy,
  
• safeguarding financial stability through appropriate design choices,
  
• and maintaining Europe’s strategic autonomy in payments.

The DEA therefore calls on Parliament to preserve the full scope of the digital euro in its negotiating mandate. With political alignment on ambition now clearly expressed, the priority must be to translate it into legislative reality. Maintaining a dual-mode digital euro that works both online and offline is not a technical preference, but a strategic necessity for Europe’s payment sovereignty, competitiveness in the digital economy and ability to shape the future of public digital money on its own terms. Delivering a functional, future-proof digital euro is essential not only for the success of this legislative file, but for Europe’s broader digital and monetary strategy..

Sources:

•  V Za, 'EU Parliament backs digital euro, aligns with Council on online‑ and offline‑ready currency' (10 Feb 2026), Reuters

• E Vasques, ‘Digital euro faces political deadlock in Brussels’ (3 Feb 2026), Yahoo news

• G Dellamorte, ‘Digital Euro talks stall as Parliament drowns in amendments’ (4 Feb 2026), Watcher Post

• P Cipollone, ‘The digital euro: strengthening Europe’s payments ecosystem’ (6 Feb 2026), ECB