On 16 January 2023, the ILF hosted a symposium „Legal Nature of a Digital Euro – between or beyond Cash and Scriptural Money“ in cooperation with the Deutsche Bundesbank. The event which took place in the House of Finance of Goethe University was attended by around 60 participants.
The possible issuance of a digital euro is currently being investigated by the Eurosystem. Starting from an analysis of the existing legal concepts of central bank money, the experts from the Deutsche Bundesbank Torsten Schäfer, Katarina Muscheler and Christopher Hunt discussed the role of banknotes and elaborated on the civil law aspects of a potential digital euro and the legal structures associated with its transfer. A lively discussion after the presentations contributed to this successful event.
After the formal event, the participants were invited to join the lunch in the foyer where they had a chance to discuss further questions.
We thank our 3 experts at the symposium:
Torsten Schäfer, LL.M., studied law at the universities of Marburg and Stockholm. He has worked for the European Central Bank and the European Commission and is currently working as a principal legal counsel in the institutional law division of Deutsche Bundesbank, focusing on monetary law as well as on banknote and coin issues.
Katharina Muscheler, Maître en droit, studied law at the universities of Munich and Paris. She is currently working as a senior legal counsel in the financial law division at Deutsche Bundesbank and has contributed to the commentary "Europäische Währungsunion" edited by Helmut Siekmann.
Christopher Hunt studied law at the universities of Jena and Paris, specialising in public law. He is currently working as a legal counsel in the financial law division at Deutsche Bundesbank with a focus on securities and digitalisation.
See presentation slides:
Banknotes - A Central Bank Liability?
Legal Nature of a Digital Euro and the Role of Intermediaries
