"The introduction of the digital euro that could take place in 2029 at the earliest does not mean that cash, i.e. banknotes and coins, will disappear. On the contrary, the European Commission’s regulation aims to further strengthen the legal tender status and security of cash. In June 2023, the European Commission presented the Single Currency Package, which consists of two key legislative proposals: one to safeguard the legal tender status of euro banknotes and coins and one concerning the digital euro. This package will ensure that all merchants would be required to accept both cash and the digital euro. Members of the European Parliament will have the final say on this issue. They showed their support for the digital euro project last month at the presentation of the Annual Report of the European Central Bank. On this occasion, a substantial majority of representatives expressed strong support for the project by voting for an online and offline version of the digital euro. Although not a legislative vote, it showed support for the project and a political atmosphere in the Parliament itself", Governor Boris Vujčić stressed at the Money Motion conference in Zagreb at the Fireside chat entitled "Where is banking heading in the EU", moderated by N1 journalist Hrvoje Krešić.

The Governor also denied speculations that the introduction of the digital euro would put people’s privacy at risk. "On the contrary. The legal and technological design of the digital euro will entail the highest standards of security and privacy for citizens – users of the digital euro. The Eurosystem and the European Central Bank, will not be able to link transaction data to users' identity. As before, users' personal data will be kept by payment service providers separately from the digital euro system", stressed Boris Vujčić.

Talking about the technical aspects of the digital euro project, the Governor explained that no DLT or blockchain infrastructure would be used. "The European Central Bank is currently working on two projects, Pontes and Appia, which aim to link different technological platforms using the Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) with the central bank digital currency. Both initiatives respond to the growth of tokenised securities on DLT and seek to offer central bank currency clearing as the safest clearing mode – instead of leaving it to private instruments, including USD stablecoins. In addition to the fact that the digital euro platform will be open to innovation by European payment service providers, the aim is to enable innovative FinTech companies to develop the financial and payment system and make it fit for the new digital age", said the CNB Governor.