The European Central Bank (ECB) is actively advancing the practical design of a potential digital euro, issuing a call for industry specialists to help shape how the central bank digital currency (CBDC) would operate on everyday payment hardware. In an announcement made public on Wednesday, the ECB opened applications for experts to join two dedicated technical workstreams under its Rulebook Development Group (RDG). This move underscores a critical phase shift from high-level policy formulation to the concrete engineering challenges of implementation.
Technical Workstreams Focus on Hardware and Certification
The ECB’s Rulebook Development Group, which includes representatives from merchants, payment service providers, and consumer groups, is tasked with creating a standardized rulebook for the digital euro. To inform this, the new expert workstreams will tackle two core areas of physical infrastructure integration.
ATM and Terminal Implementation Specifications
The first workstream will concentrate on developing precise technical specifications for ATM operators and point-of-sale (POS) terminal providers. Key topics include establishing secure communication protocols, defining robust offline transaction capabilities—a crucial feature for resilience during network outages—and exploring how the digital euro can leverage existing, widely-adopted European payment standards to minimize disruption and cost for merchants and users alike.
Certification and Approval Frameworks
The second workstream will formulate proposals for the testing, certification, and approval processes that payment solutions and underlying infrastructure must undergo. This framework aims to ensure that all hardware and software within the digital euro ecosystem meets stringent security, interoperability, and performance standards before being made available to payment service providers (PSPs) and, ultimately, the public.
Selected experts in these workstreams are expected to provide deep technical input, translating the RDG’s policy decisions into actionable engineering requirements. Their contributions will directly feed into the development of the comprehensive rulebook that will govern the digital euro’s operational life.
Pilot Phase Targeted for 2027 Amid Final Decision Pending
This call for technical experts aligns with the ECB’s previously announced timeline. The central bank aims to select a cohort of licensed EU payment service providers ahead of a planned 12-month pilot phase, which is scheduled to commence in the second half of 2027. As detailed by ECB Executive Board Member Piero Cipollone on February 18, this limited pilot will involve a select group of merchants, Eurosystem staff, and participating PSPs to test the digital euro in a real-world, but controlled, environment.
Digital euro pilot information. Source: ECB
While the technical and pilot preparations indicate significant momentum, the ECB remains clear that a final political decision to issue a digital euro will only be taken after the necessary European Union legislation is formally adopted. The current work is therefore preparatory, ensuring the project is “shovel-ready” should the governing bodies give the green light.
Related: ECB reveals Appia roadmap for central bank money in Europe’s tokenized markets
Related: Stablecoins could weaken bank lending and monetary policy in Europe:
