In Episode No. 7 (CBDCs) of The Deal Makers podcast, Prof. Dr. Chiara Zilioli, General Counsel at the European Central Bank (ECB), discusses with our Institute for Law and Finance (Goethe University Frankfurt) alumnus Papuna Papuashvili, who was a senior lawyer at the National Bank of Georgia, and is now a senior analyst at Goldman Sachs, the concept and legal framework surrounding the digital euro, a proposed Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) in Europe.
Prof. Dr. Zilioli outlines the shift towards digitalization in payment methods, leading to the exploration of the digital euro to ensure citizens have access to central bank money in a digital era. Zilioli identifies three primary objectives behind this initiative: supporting financial innovation, ensuring central bank money supply in a digital age, and enhancing Europe’s strategic autonomy in payment infrastructure. She explains the legal tender status of the digital euro and its implications, including its nature as a direct liability of the ECB and the distinction between central bank and commercial bank money. The discussion also touches on the limits on holdings and the lack of programmability in the digital euro, ensuring its fungibility as a form of currency.
