ECB Advances Digital Euro Project with New Roadmap and Technical Workshops

According to the Economic Desk of Webangah News Agency, the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) has progressed to the next stage of its digital euro initiative in October 2025. This phase includes launching a pilot program in the second half of 2027, with the potential initial issuance of the EU’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) by 2029, pending legal and technical readiness.

The ECB has invited technical service providers (TSPs) operating in the EU’s retail payment industry to participate in two specialized workshops. These sessions aim to assess the companies’ potential role in enhancing market preparedness for the possible introduction of the digital euro.

TSPs are defined as entities that don’t directly provide payment services but play crucial technical and operational support roles in payment infrastructure. While primary responsibility for distributing the digital euro pilot services will fall to direct payment service providers (PSPs), the ECB noted that PSPs may rely on TSPs for effective infrastructure development and implementation.

The central bank emphasized that TSPs could help reduce costs and develop efficient, secure, and innovative solutions for the digital euro by creating synergies with PSPs. Accordingly, two separate part-time workshops are planned: one focusing on technical support for consumer-facing digital euro distribution, and another concentrating on digital payment services for merchants and PSPs active in payment acceptance.

These workshops will evaluate the current market status of European TSPs, examine their capabilities, and identify segments of the PSP value chain that could benefit from TSP support. The EU and ECB have been developing the digital euro concept since 2021 as a comprehensive digital payment alternative for the eurozone that could serve as a European counterpart to dominant U.S. payment networks like Visa and Mastercard.

The final decision on issuing the digital currency depends on necessary EU legislation, with ECB officials reiterating that no final issuance decision will be made without appropriate legal approval.