The discussion around the introduction of digital Euro seems to be intensifying, though key aspects of how the overall digital payment system would work still remain rather unclear.
Progress can be tracked here and here
Broadly speaking, there is a conceptual distinction into three layers / use cases: the digital euro itself - presumably implemented as some form of digital cash for ordinary users within the Eurozone, a “wholesale transactions” mechanism that employs some type of distributed ledger technology and finally cross-currency arrangements.
With regard to what is closer to the GNU Taler use case (the digital euro), the stated objective is to “Enable private sector initiatives to scale up to pan-European level. Open standards and acceptance network, providing a platform for innovation”. This seems to suggest that the objective is a landscape of multiple implementations but all adhering to defined protocols and standards. The role and merits of open source stacks (potentially as a reference implementation) does not seem mentioned anywhere.
In any case the eventual digital euro rulebook will have material impact on requirements:
- it defines functional and operational model of a digital euro (e.g. end-to-end flows, core requirements for supervised intermediaries, minimum user experience standards, etc.)
- it defines an adherence model of the digital euro scheme (e.g. scheme eligibility criteria, participant obligations, etc.)
- it specifies technical scheme requirements (e.g. IT infrastructure, application programming interface implementation, technical standards, etc.)
- it spells out risk management requirements
- it sets digital euro scheme management rules (e.g. scheme governance, change management processes, etc.)
Exciting times!