61 Amendments of Michiel HOOGEVEEN related to 2023/0212(COD)
Amendment 120 #
Proposal for a regulation
–
–
The European Parliament rejects the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the establishment of the digital euro.
Amendment 122 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 1
Recital 1
(1) The Commission emphasised in the Digital Finance and Retail Payment Strategies20 of September 2020 that a digital euro, as a retail central bank digital currency, would act as a catalyst for innovation in payments, finance and commerce in the context of ongoing efforts to reduce the fragmentation of the Union retail payments market. The Eurosummit of March 2021 called for a stronger and more innovative digital finance sector and more efficient and resilient payment systems. The Eurogroup also acknowledged, in its statement of 25 February, the potential of a digital euro to foster innovation in the financial system. It is worth noting that the digital euro in its current design limits innovation. A CBDC built on blockchain technology would allow for more innovative developments from the fintech and entrepreneurial sectors. In that context, both the European Parliament21 and ECOFIN Council22 welcomed in February and March 2022 the European Central Bank’s decision to launch a two-year investigation phase of a digital euro project, starting from October 2021. __________________ 20 Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council and the Committee of the Regions on a Digital Finance Strategy for the EU (COM/2020/591 final) 21 European Parliament’s resolution of 16 February 2022 on the European Central Bank – annual report 20212021/2063(INI) 22 https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/docu ment/ST-6301-2022-INIT/en/pdf
Amendment 128 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 4
Recital 4
(4) To address the need of a rapidly digitalising economy, the digital euro should support a variety of use cases of retail payments. Those use case include person to person, person to business, person to government, business to person, business to business, business to government, government to person, government to business, and government to government payments. In addition, the digital euro should also be able to fulfil future payments needs, and in particular machine to machine payment in the context of Industry 4.0 and payments in the decentralised internet (web3). The digital euro should notexplore the possibility to cater for payments between financial intermediaries, payment service providers and other market participants (that is to say wholesale payments), for which settlement systems in central bank money exist and where the use of different technologies is being further investigated by the Eurosystem.
Amendment 134 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 5
Recital 5
(5) In a context where cash alone cannot answer the needs of a digitalised economy, it is essential to supportshould be assessed whether financial inclusion could be supported by ensuring universal, affordable and easy access to the digital euro to individuals in the euro area, as well as its wide acceptance in payments, as well as whether the digital euro could be beneficial as a monetary anchor to commercial bank money. Financial exclusion in the digitalised economy may increase as private digital means of payments may not specifically cater for vulnerable groups of the society or may not be suitable in some rural or remote areas without a (stable) communication network. According to the World Bank and the Bank for International Settlements, “efficient, accessible and safe retail payment systems and services are critical for greater financial inclusion”.24 That finding was further substantiated by the study on new Digital Payment Methods commissioned by the European Central Bank, which concluded that for the unbanked/underbanked/offline population, the most important features of a new payment method are easiness of use, not requiring technological skills, and to be secure and free of charge.25 A digital euro would offer a public alternative to private digital means of payments anIf it is determined that issuance of the digital euro would be a net gain, this could support financial inclusion as it would be designed along these objectives, thus catering for free access, easinesse of use and wide accessibility and acceptance. __________________ 24 https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/ en/806481470154477031/pdf/Payment- Aspects-of-Financial-Inclusion.pdf 25 Study on New Digital Payment Methods (europa.eu), March 2022. According to the World Bank, financial inclusion means that individuals have access to useful and affordable financial products and services that meet their needs – transactions, payments, savings, credit and insurance”.
Amendment 136 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 6
Recital 6
(6) The digital euro should complement euro banknotes and coins and shouldwill not replace the physical forms of the single currency. As legal tender instruments, both cash and digital euro are equally important. Regulation (EU) [please insert reference – proposal for a Regulation on the legal tender of euro banknotes and coins - COM/2023/364] would harmonise legal tender for cash and ensure that cash is widely distributed and effectively used.
Amendment 140 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 7
Recital 7
(7) Future developments in digital payments may affect the role of the euro in retail payment markets both in the European Union and internationally. Many central banks around the world are currently exploring the issuance of central bank digital currencies (‘CBDCs’) and some countries have already issued a CBDC. In addition, so-called third country stablecoins not denominated in euro, could, if widely used for payments, displace euro denominated payments in the Union’s economy by satisfying demand for programmable payments (which are referred as conditional payments in the context of this Regulation), including in e- commerce, capital markets or industry 4.0. A digital euro would thereforeShould such threats materialize, the digital euro may be important tofor maintaining the role of the euro in the digital age.
Amendment 143 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 8
Recital 8
(8) It is thereforWould the digital euro be deemed necessary in view of the previously laid out scenarios, it would be necessary to lay down a legal framework for establishing a digital form of the euro with the status of legal tender, for use by people, businesses and public authorities in the euro area. As a new form of the euro available to the general public, the digital euro should have important societal and economic consequences. It is therefore necessary to establish the digital euro and to regulate its main characteristics, as a measure of monetary law. The European Central Bank is competent to issue and to authorise the issuance of the digital euro by national central banks of the Member States whose currency is the euro, exercising its powers under the Treaties. On the basis of those powers and in accordance with the legal framework set out in this Regulation, the European Central Bank together with the co-legislators should thus be able to decide whether to issue the digital euro, at which times and in what amounts, and other particular measures that are intrinsically connected to its issuance, in addition toas separate from the ECB’s usual issuance of banknotes and coins.
Amendment 144 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 9
Recital 9
(9) Like euro banknotes and coins, the digital euro should be a direct liability of the European Central Bank or of the national central banks of the Member States whose currency is the euro towards digital euro users. The digital euro should be issued for an amount equal to the face value of the corresponding liability on the consolidated balance sheet of the European Central Bank and the national central banks of the Member States whose currency is thephysical euro, in particular by converting payment service providers’ central bank reserves into digital euro holdings, to satisfy demand from digital euro users. To hold and use digital euros, digital euro users should only need to establish a contractual relationship with payment service providers distributing the digital euro to open digital euro payment accounts. No account or other contractual relationship would be established between the digital euro user and the European Central Bank or the national central banks. Payment service providers should manage the digital euro accounts of digital euro users on their behalf and provide them with digital euro payment services. Since payment service providers are not a party to the direct liability held by digital euro users towards the European Central Bank and the national central banks of the Member States whose currency is the euro, and are acting on behalf of digital euro users, the insolvency of payment service providers would not affect digital euro users.
Amendment 152 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 13
Recital 13
(13) As the initiator of the digital euro, it is the primary responsibility of the ECB to disseminate information and manage public relations campaigns to ensure the successful acceptance of this disruptive technology. It is particularly crucial to do this in a time of fake news and mass dangerous conspiracy theories. Member States, their relevant authorities and payment service providers should also support the ECB’s efforts and deploy information and educational measures to ensure the necessary level of awareness and knowledge of the different aspects of the digital euro.
Amendment 156 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 18
Recital 18
(18) Since the digital euro requires the capacity to accept digital means of payment, imposing an obligation of mandatory acceptance of payments in digital euro on all payees could be disproportionate. To this end, exceptions to the mandatory acceptance of payments in digital euro should be provided for natural persons acting in the course of a purely personal or household activity. Exceptions to mandatory acceptance should also be provided for microenterprises, which are particularly important in the euro area for the development of entrepreneurship job creation and innovation, playing a vital role in shaping the economy. Union policies and actions should reduce regulatory burdens for enterprises of this size. Exceptions to mandatory acceptance should also be provided for non-profit legal entities which promote the public interest and serve the public good performing a variety of goals of societal interest, including equity, education, health, environmental protection and human rights. For microenterprises and non-profit legal entities, the acquisition of the required infrastructure and the acceptance costs would be disproportionate. They should therefore be exempted from the obligation to accept payments in digital euro. In such cases, other means for the settlement of monetary debts should remain available. Nevertheless, microenterprises and non- profit legal entities that accept comparable digital means of payment from payers should be subject to the mandatory acceptance of payments in digital euro. Comparable digital means of payment should include debit card payment or instant payment or other future technological solutions used at the point of interaction, but should exclude credit transfer and direct debit that are not initiated at the point of interaction. Microenterprises and non-profit legal entitiFor microenterprises, the acquisition of the required infrastructure and the acceptance costs would be disproportionate. They should therefore be exempted from the obligation to accept payments in digital euro. In such cases, other means for the settlement of monetary debts should remain available. Microenterprises that do not accept comparable digital means of payment from their payers in settlement of a debt (e.g. they only accept euro banknotes and coins), but may use digital payments in settlement of a debt to their payees (e.g. they pay with credit transfers), should not be subject to the mandatory acceptance of payments in digital euro. Finally, a payee may also refuse a payment in digital euro if the refusal is made in good faith and if the payee justifies the refusal on legitimate and temporary grounds, proportionate to concrete circumstances beyond its control, leading to an impossibility to accept payments in digital euro at the relevant time of the transaction, such as a power outage in the case of online digital euro payment transactions, or a defective device in the case of offline or online digital euro payment transactions.
Amendment 164 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 25
Recital 25
(25) For the purpose of properly enforcing any holding limits on the use of the digital euro decided upon by the European Central Bank in conjunction with the co-legislators, when on-boarding digital euro users, or during ex-post checks where appropriate, payment service providers in charge of distributing the digital euro should verify whether their prospective or existing customer already has digital euro payment accounts. The European Central Bank may support payment service providers in performing the task of enforcing any holding limits, including by establishing alone or jointly with national central banks a single access point of digital euro user identifiers and the related digital euro holding limits. The European Central Bank should implement appropriate technical and organisational measures, including state-of-the-art security and privacy-preserving measures, to ensure that the identity of individual digital euro users cannot be linked with the information in the single access point by entities other than payment service providers whose client or potential customer is the digital euro user. The European Central Bank should be controller to the extent that these activities require processing of personal data. When the European Central Bank establishes the single access point together with the national central banks, they should be joint controllers.
Amendment 166 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 26
Recital 26
(26) To support universal access to the digital euro by the general public in the euro area, and to foster innovation and a high level of competition in the retail payment market, all the relevant intermediaries should be able to distribute the digital euro. All account servicing payment service providers under Directive 2015/2366, including credit institutions, electronic money institutions, payment institutions, post office giro institutions which are entitled under national law to provide payment services, the European Central Bank and national central banks of Member States whose currency is the euro, as part of the Eurosystem, when not acting in their capacity as monetary authority or other public authorities, and Member States or their regional or local authorities when not acting in their capacity as public authorities should be able to provide digital euro payment accounts and the related digital euro payment services, regardless of their location in the European Economic Area, provided the transition and the costs of upgrading necessary infrastructure is guaranteed by the Eurosystem and not forced onto the intermediary or the merchants. Crypto asset services providers regulated under Regulation 2023/1114 of the European Parliament and of the Council29 that are account servicing payment service providers under Directive 2015/2366 should also be allowed to distribute the digital euro. In accordance with Directive 2015/2366, account servicing payment service providers should be obliged to provide access to data on payment accounts to payment initiation and account information service providers based on Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), to allow them to develop and provide innovative additional services. __________________ 29 Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 May 2023 on markets in crypto-assets, and amending Regulations (EU) No 1093/2010 and (EU) No 1095/2010 and Directives 2013/36/EU and (EU) 2019/1937, OJ L150, 9.6.2023, p. 40
Amendment 167 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 27
Recital 27
(27) In case the availability of the digital euro were contingent upon free business decisions by all payment service providers, the digital euro could be marginalised or even excluded by the payment service providers. That could prevent users fromthe interest of protecting the free market, the stability of the financial system and the free business decisions of businesses and consumers, the digital euro, while granted legal tender status, must remain one payment option and not a substitute to cash. Users should paying and receivinge payments in all forms of currency endowed with the status of legal tender. In that case, the singleness in the use of the digital euro throughout the euro area required by Article 133 TFEU, would not be guaranteed. It is therefore essential that designated payment service providers be requiredable to distribute digital euro basic services alongside other payment options.
Amendment 168 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 29
Recital 29
(29) To ensure a wide usage of the digital euro, including for people who do not have a non-digital euro payment account, do not wish to open a digital euro payment account at a credit institution or at another payment service providers that may distribute the digital euro, or persons with disabilities, functional limitations or limited digital skills, and elderly persons, it is essential that public entities, including local or regional authorities, or postal offices, distribute the digital euro. For thate purpose, Member States should of broader accessibility, Member States will be responsible for deciding to designate their own entities that should carry out that taske task of wider distribution of the digital euro within their territory. Such entities, as payment services providers under Directive (EU) 2015/2366, should comply with the provisions of this Regulation, including Directive (EU) 2015/2366 and Directive (EU) 2015/849.
Amendment 171 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 30
Recital 30
(30) To enable a wide usage of the digital euro and keep pace with innovation in digital payments, digital euro payment services should include basic and additional digital euro payment services. Basic digital euro payment services are payment, account or support services that are considered essential for the use of the digital euro by natural persons. This includes inter alia the provision of at least one payment instrument to natural persons. Only account servicing payment service providers under Directive 2015/2366 should provide the entire set of basic digital euro services. In addition to these basic digital euro payment services, account servicing payment service providers and other payment service providers under Directive 2015/2366 may develop and provide additional digital euro payment services. Additional digital euro payment services include for instance conditional digital euro payment transactions like pay-per-use or payment initiation services. The digital euro infrastructure should facilitate the deployment of such optional services. To be truly innovative and bring value to European businesses and consumers, the digital euro could be built on blockchain.
Amendment 173 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 31
Recital 31
(31) Pursuant to its powers under the Treaties and in line with the provisions of this Regulation, the European Central Bank in conjunction with the co-legislators should be able to set limits on the use of the digital euro as a store of value. The effective use of the digital euro as a legal tender means of payment should be preserved through limits on inter-PSP or merchant feesfees. Fees should be abolished to make sure merchants do not burden the cost of mandatory acceptance.
Amendment 178 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 32
Recital 32
(32) An unrestricted use of digital euro as a store of value could endanger financial stability in the euro area, with adverse effects on credit provision to the economy by credit institutions. This may require that the European Central Bank, with a view to ensuring the stability of the financial system, and in line with the principle of proportionality, introduce limits on the digital euro’s use as a store of value. The policy tools that could be used for this purpose include, but would not be restricted to, quantitative limits to individual digital euro holdings and limits to conversion of other categories of funds to digital euro in a specified timeframe. All changes to the digital euro must not be taken unilaterally by the ECB, but rather in conjunction with the co-legislators. When deciding on the parameters and use of the instruments referred to in paragraph 1, the European Central Bank should respectprioritize the principles of an open market economy with free competition, in accordance with Article 127(1) TFEU.
Amendment 180 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 32
Recital 32
(32) An unrestricted use of digital euro as a store of value could endanger financial stability in the euro area, with adverse effects on credit provision to the economy by credit institutions. This may require that the European Central Bank, with a view to ensuring the stability of the financial system, and in line with the principle of proportionality, introduce limits on the digital euro’s use as a store of value. The policy tools that could be used for this purpose include, but would not be restricted to, quantitative limits to individual digital euro holdings and limits to conversion of other categories of funds to digital euro in a specified timeframe. When deciding on the parameters and use of the instruments referred to in paragraph 1, the European Central Bank should respect the principle of an open market economy with free competition, in accordance with Article 127(1) TFEU.
Amendment 190 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 39
Recital 39
(39) Any limits to the store of value function that the European Central Bank together with the co-legislators decided on should be binding on and implemented by the payment service providers distributing the digital euro. While natural or legal persons may have one or more digital euro payment accounts at the same payment service provider or at different payment service providers, they should be subject to an individual holding limit that a digital euro user may allocate across different payment services providers. Payment service providers may offer digital euro users the possibility to legally have a joint digital euro payment account. In this case, any holding limit applied to the joint digital euro payment account should be equal to the sum of the allocated holding limits of the digital euro users. Where a digital euro payment account is legally held by only one digital euro user, but can be technically accessed to and used by several persons, upon de facto or legal mandate given by the digital euro user, any holding limit applied to the digital euro payment account should remain equal to the holding limit defined for a digital euro payment account held by a single digital euro user, to avoid any circumvention of the holding limits.
Amendment 192 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 40
Recital 40
(40) To ensure wide access to and use of the digital euro, consistent with its status of legal tender, and to support its role as monetary anchor in the euro area, natural persons residing in the euro area, natural persons who opened a digital euro account at the time they resided in the euro area, but no longer reside there, as well as visitors, should not be charged for basic digital euro payment services. That means that such digital euro users should not bear any direct fees for their basic access to and basic use of the digital euro, including not being charged transaction fees or any other fees that are directly associated with the provision of services related to the basic use of the digital euro. Digital euro users should not be required to have or open a non-digital euro payment account or to accept other non-digital euro products. Where the digital euro user agrees to a package of services comprising non-digital euro services and basic digital euro payment services, the payment service provider should be able to charge that package of services at its discretion. In that case, there should not be a differentiated charge for the non-digital euro services when they are offered separately or as part of a package including basic digital euro payment services. Where the digital euro user asks to receive only basic digital euro payment services with a payment service provider, those services should not be charged, including for waterfall and reverse waterfall functionalities where the digital euro user also has a non-digital euro payment account with another payment service provider. Payment service providers should be able to charge digital euro users for additional digital euro payment services beyond the basic digital euro payment services free of the interference of the ECB or any other regulatory body to ensure the free market allows for innovation and fair competition.
Amendment 193 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 42
Recital 42
(42) As the digital euro is a form of the single currency having legal tender status, digital euro payment transactions should not be subject to excessive fees by payment service providers. In particular, granting the digital euro legal tender status, with the corollary of mandatory acceptance, means that merchants would have no choice but to accept digital euro payment transactions. Furthermore, any charge or fee per transaction or period erodes, directly or indirectly, the face value of payments received, which is an essential component of the legal tender status. It is therefore essential that a fee or a charge, as a restriction of the face value of the digital euro, be objectively justified and proportionate to the objective of ensuring an effective use of the digital euro as a legal tender means of payment. Ultimately, the laws of the free market should be allowed to prevail in the setting of fees among PSPs and merchants with respect to digital euro transactions.
Amendment 194 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 43
Recital 43
(43) To ensure that fees and charges are uniform across the euro area and proportionate, the European Central Bank should regularly monitor their level and, on this basis, publish the corresponding amounts together with an explanatory report. A maximum fee or charge should allow for free competition between intermediaries below that level. Fees or charges should not exceed the relevant costs incurred by payment service providers for the provision of digital euro payment services in relation to digital euro payment transactions, which are objective elements, and may include a reasonable margin of profit. For that purpose, the European Central Bank should use an estimate of the representative average cost incurred by payment service providers across the euro area and should therefore be in a position to collect relevant data from payment service providers. The relevant costs for providing digital euro payment services in relation to digital euro payment transactions should be based on the costs incurred by a representative group of the most efficient payment service providers in a given year. Competent authorities designated by Member States should be responsible for ensuring compliance by payment service providers with these maximum fees or chargesTo preserve the integrity of the free market, no maximum caps on fees should be set. Rather, that should be the imperative of each PSP, in accordance with the principle of fair competition.
Amendment 196 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 44
Recital 44
(44) Furthermore, to ensure an effective use of the digital euro, it is important that the market is allowed to adjust so that any fees or charges are not higher than those requested for comparable private digital means of payment. International card schemes regulated under Regulation (EU) 2015/751 of the European Parliament and the Council30 , national card schemes, and instant payments at the point of interaction provided by payment service providers should be considered comparable means of payments. __________________ 30 Regulation (EU) 2015/751 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2015 on interchange fees for card- based payment transactions (OJ L 123, 19.5.2015, p. 1).
Amendment 197 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 45
Recital 45
(45) As payment services providers distributing the digital euro would not be in a position to charge fees to natural persons for basic digital euro payment services, an inter-PSP fee may be neededa potential solution to provide compensation to those payment service providers for the distribution costs. The inter-PSP fee should provide sufficient compensation for the distribution costs of both the distributing and acquiring payment service providers, including a reasonable margin of profit.
Amendment 198 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 47
Recital 47
(47) An excessive distribution of the digital euro outside the euro area could have an unwanted impact on the size and composition of the consolidated balance sheet of the European Central Bank and national central banks. Impacts on monetary sovereignty and financial stability of non-euro area countries may also differ depending on the use of the digital euro outside the euro area. Those impacts could be harmful in case the digital euro replaces the local currency in a high number of domestic transactions. In particular, a situation in which the digital euro becomes dominant in a Member State whose currency is not the euro, thus de facto replacing the national currency, could interfere with the euro area adoption criteria and process set out in Article 140 TFEU. To avoid undesirable effects and prevent monetary sovereignty and financial stability risks, both within and outside the euro area, it is necessary to provide for the possibility for the Union, with full transparency and the democratic involvement of the co-legislators, to conclude agreements with third countries, and for the European Central Bank to conclude arrangements with the national central banks of Member States whose currency is not the euro and with the national central banks of third countries, to specify the conditions for the regular provision of digital euro payment services to digital euro users residing or established outside the euro area. Such agreements and arrangements should not cover visitors to the euro area, to whom payment service providers established in the European Economic Area31 , in line with the Agreement on the European Economic Area, may directly provide digital euro payment services. __________________ 31 Agreement on the European Economic Area (OJ L 1, 3.1.1994, p. 3).
Amendment 199 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 48
Recital 48
(48) The provision of digital euro payment services to digital euro users residing or established in a Member State whose currency is not the euro should be subject to a prior arrangement between the European Central Bank and the national central bank of the Member State whose currency is not the euro, following a request from the Member State whose currency is not the euro, pending approval of the co-legislators. In line with the Agreement on the European Economic Area, digital euro users residing or established in non-euro area Member States may be provided digital euro payment services by payment service providers established in the European Economic Area.
Amendment 200 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 52
Recital 52
(52) Digital euro users, whether they reside or are established within the euro area or not, may also have the capacity to receive or initiate cross-currency payments between the digital euro and a local currency. Arrangements concluded between the European Central Bank and national central banks in Member States whose currency is not the euro and in third countries should specify the conditions for access to and use of interoperable payment systems for the purpose of cross-currency payments involving the digital euro. These agreements should not enter into force without approval from the co-legislators.
Amendment 201 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 53
Recital 53
(53) AWith approval from the co- legislators, agreements and arrangements related to the provision of digital euro payment services or cross-currency payments involving the digital euro should be concluded on a voluntary basis, inwith priority withgiven to non-euro area Member States. The European Central Bank should cooperate with national central banks of Member States whose currency is not the euro for the purpose of cross-currency payments involving the digital euro.
Amendment 202 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 54
Recital 54
(54) The technical design of the digital euro should make it widely accessible to and usable by the general public. That design should, in particular, take into account support access to financially excluded persons or persons at risk of financial exclusion, persons with disabilities by ensuring compliance with accessibility requirements laid down in Annex I of Directive (EU) 2019/882 of the European Parliament and the Council32 (European Accessibility Act), persons with functional limitations who would also benefit from accessibility, or persons with limited digital skills and elderly persons. For that purpose, the digital euro should have usage features that are simple and easy to handle, and should be sufficiently accessible through a wide range of hardware devices to cater for the needs of different groups of the population. Furthermore, payment service providers should provide digital euro users with digital euro payment services, regardless of those users holding non-digital euro payment accounts. In addition, those users should be allowed to have digital euro payment accounts with payment service providers that are different from the ones with which they have non-digital euro payment accounts. __________________ 32 Directive (EU) 2019/882 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on the accessibility requirements for products and services (OJ L 151, 7.6.2019, p. 70).
Amendment 204 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 55
Recital 55
(55) The digital euro should support the programming of conditional digital euro payment transactions by payment service providers. The digital euro should, however, not bever become “programmable money”, which means units that, due to intrinsically defined spending conditions, can only be used for buying specific types of goods or services, or are subject to time limits after which they are no longer usable. Conditional payment transactions are payments which are automatically triggered by software based on pre-defined and agreed conditions. Conditional payments should not have, as object or effect, the use of digital euro as programmable money. Payment service providers could develop different types of logic to offer a range of conditional payment transactions to digital euro users, including automated payment transactions for placing or withdrawing digital euros, payment standing orders that trigger automatic payments of a specific amount on a specific date, and payments between machines where those machines are programmed to automatically trigger payments for their own spare parts upon ordering them, for charging and paying electricity at most favourable market conditions, for paying insurance, and leasing and maintenance fees on a usage basis.
Amendment 205 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 56
Recital 56
(56) To facilitate the use of digital euro and the provision of innovative services, the Eurosystem should support the provision ofdevelopment of innovation and solutions using conditional digital euro payment transactions where in demand and appropriate. First, some types of conditional payment services could be supported through detailed measures, rules and standards that could help payment service providers to develop and operate interoperable applications that execute conditional logic. That could include a set of technical tools such as application programming interfaces. Second, the Eurosystem could provide additional functionalities in the digital euro settlement infrastructure, necessary for the provision of conditional payment services to digital euro users. That could facilitate the reservation of funds in the settlement infrastructure for future execution of some conditional payments. Payment service providers should adapt the business logic for conditional digital euro payment transactions in accordance with the standards and application programming interfaces which the Eurosystem may adopt to facilitate such transactions.
Amendment 206 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 57
Recital 57
Amendment 208 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 58
Recital 58
(58) Users should be able, if they so wish,might be invited to onboard and authorise payments with the digital euro by using the European Digital Identity Wallets. Payment service providers should therefore be obliged to accept the European Digital Identity Wallets for the verification of both prospective and existing customers’ identities, in line with Regulation (EU) [please insert reference – proposal for a Regulation for Anti-Money Laundering Regulation – COM/2021/421 final). To facilitate the opening of digital euro accounts across the Union, payment service providers should also be able to rely on qualified attestations provided by the European Digital Identity Wallets, including for the remote performance of customer due diligence. Payment service providers should also accept the use of European Digital Identity Wallets if the payer wishes to use the wallet for payment authorisation of digital euro payment transactions. Further, to facilitate offline proximity payments in digital euro, it should be possible to use the European Digital Identity Wallets for the storage of digital euros in the payment device.
Amendment 215 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 64
Recital 64
(64) To provide for instantaneous settlement, both online and offline digital euro transactions, including in the context of funding and defunding, and as waterfall and reverse waterfall functionalities, should be settled instantaneously, in a few seconds only, in normal circumstances. Given the existence of the instant payments system, the digital euro can easily be built on the rails of this system, at least until a more innovative solution involving blockchain can be deployed. The settlement of online digital euro payment transactions should be performed in the digital euro settlement infrastructure adopted by the Eurosystem. Online digital euro payment transactions should be settled in a matter of seconds as specified under the functional and technical requirements adopted by the European Central Bank. Final settlement of online digital euro payment transactions should be achieved at the moment of recording the digital euros concerned of the payer and the payee in the digital euro settlement infrastructure approved by the European Central Bank, irrespective of whether digital euros are recorded as holding balances or units of value, or of the technology used. The digital euro settlement infrastructure should seek to ensure adaptation to new technologies, including distributed ledger technology such as blockchain.
Amendment 221 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 72
Recital 72
(72) Data protection by design and data protection by default should be embedded in all data processing systems developed and used within the framework of this Regulation. The processing of personal data should be subject to appropriate safeguards to protect the rights and freedoms of the data subject. The data should be stored in Europe. Those safeguards should ensure that technical and organisational measures are in place in particular to ensure respect for the data protection principles laid down in Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and Regulation (EU) 2018/1715, including data minimisation and purpose limitation.
Amendment 224 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 74
Recital 74
(74) Any processing of personal data to verify whether users are listed persons or entities pursuant to restrictive measures adopted in accordance with Article 215 TFEU should be in line with Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council. Processing of the names and the payment account identifiers of natural persons is proportionate and necessary to ensure the compliance with restrictive measures adopted in accordance with Article 215 TFEU providing for asset freeze or prohibition of making funds or economic resources available. The digital euro should be in line with existing legislation, such as AMLR and the unshelling directive.
Amendment 229 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 77
Recital 77
(77) For the purpose of enforcing the holding limits and ensuring the exceptional switching of digital euro payment accounts in emergency situations upon the request of the digital euro user, a single access point of digital euro user identifiers and the related digital euro holding limits is necessary to ensure the efficient functioning of the digital euro across the entire euro area, as digital euro users may hold digital euro payment accounts in different Member States. When establishing the single access point, the European Central Bank and national central banks should ensure that the processing of personal data is minimised to what is strictly necessary and that data protection by design and by default is embedded. The European Central Bank and national central banks should consider, where appropriate and to minimise the risk of data breaches, the use of decentralised data storage the use of decentralised data storage and other strategic measures to minimise the risk of data breaches.
Amendment 237 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 1
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 1
1. ‘digital euro’ means the digital form of the Eurozone’s single currency available to natural and legal persons;
Amendment 297 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 9 – paragraph 1 – point a
Article 9 – paragraph 1 – point a
(a) where the payee is a an enterprise which employs fewer than 1250 persons or whose annual turnover or annual balance sheet total does not exceed EUR 250 million, or is a non-profit legal entity as defined in in Article 2, point (18), of Regulation (EU) 2021/695 of the European Parliament and of the Council44 , unless it accepts comparable digital means of payment; __________________ 44 Regulation (EU) 2021/695 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 April 2021 establishing Horizon Europe – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, laying down its rules for participation and dissemination, and repealing Regulations (EU) No 1290/2013 and (EU) No 1291/2013 (OJ L 170, 12.5.2021, p. 1).
Amendment 318 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 13 – paragraph 3 – introductory part
Article 13 – paragraph 3 – introductory part
3. Payment service providers shall make available funding and defunding functionalities to their clients that are digital euro users:
Amendment 319 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 13 – paragraph 3 – point b
Article 13 – paragraph 3 – point b
(b) when and where a payment service provider provides cash services where funding and defunding take place through euro banknotes and coins, subject to any limitations that the European Central Bank may adopt in accordance with Article 16(1) of this Regulation.
Amendment 322 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 13 – paragraph 3 – point b a (new)
Article 13 – paragraph 3 – point b a (new)
(ba) where cash is to be provided via an ATM, the requirement for funding and defunding shall be limited to euro banknotes.
Amendment 326 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 13 – paragraph 4 – subparagraph 1 – point a
Article 13 – paragraph 4 – subparagraph 1 – point a
(a) to have their digital euros in excess of any limitations the European Central Bank may adopt in accordance with Article 16 automatically defunded to a non-digital euro payment account held at the same payment service provider, where an online digital euro payment transaction is received;
Amendment 329 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 13 – paragraph 4 – subparagraph 1 – point b
Article 13 – paragraph 4 – subparagraph 1 – point b
(b) to make an online digital euro payment transaction where the transaction amount exceeds their digital euro holdings from a non-digital euro payment account held at the same payment service provider.
Amendment 372 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 15 – paragraph 1
Article 15 – paragraph 1
1. With a view to enabling natural and legal persons to access and use digital euro, to defining and implementing monetary policy and to contributing to the stability of the financial system, the use of the digital euro as a store of value mayshall be subject to limitsholding limits. These limits shall be aligned to the average ordinary daily spending of citizens while avoiding any potential risk for financial stability.
Amendment 385 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 16 – paragraph 1
Article 16 – paragraph 1
1. For the purpose of Article 15(1), the European Central Bank shall develop instruments to limit the use of the digital euro as a store of value and shall decide on their parameters and use, in accordance with the framework set out in this Article. PSPs providing account servicing payment services within the meaning of Directive 2015/2366 to natural and legal persons referred to in Article 12(1) shall apply these limits to digital euro payment accounts, together with the co-legislators and the Single Supervisory Mechanism shall define holding limits and develop potential instruments to limit the use of the digital euro as a store of value.
Amendment 394 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 16 – paragraph 1 a (new)
Article 16 – paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. The European Central Bank, with the involvement of relevant stakeholders, shall conduct a detailed impact assessment, drawing on bank level data through a Quantitative Impact Study (QIS), with the aim of providing a full picture of the consequences for credit institutions’ balance sheet and liquidity management of the introduction of a digital euro.
Amendment 403 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 16 – paragraph 2 – point c
Article 16 – paragraph 2 – point c
(c) respect the principle of proportionality. To this effect, it may be possible to calculate an appropriate holding limit per natural person based on averages of daily use and the holding of cash by natural persons.
Amendment 414 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 16 – paragraph 5
Article 16 – paragraph 5
5. Visitors to the euro area as referred to in Article 13(1), point (c), and natural and legal persons as referred to in Article 13(1), points (b), (d) and (e), shall be subject to limits as regards the use of the euro as a store of value that are not higher than the ones effectively implemented in the euro area for natural and legal persons residing or established in Member States whose currency is the euro. The parameters and use of the instruments shall be applied in a non-discriminatory manner and uniformly across Member States whose currency is not the euro. When deciding on the use of the instruments in those Member States and setting the parameters, the European Central Bank shall consult national central banks of Member States whose currency is not the euro. PSPs may elect to charge visitors to the EU fees in order to use the digital euro.
Amendment 418 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 16 – paragraph 6
Article 16 – paragraph 6
6. In case a digital euro user has multiple digital euro payment accounts, the digital euro user shall specify to the payment service providers at the moment of opening their account with which the digital euro payment accounts are held in order to determine how the individual holding limit is to be allocated between the different digital euro payment accounts.
Amendment 429 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 16 – paragraph 8
Article 16 – paragraph 8
8. Within the framework of this Regulation, tThe digital euro shall not bear interest.
Amendment 437 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 17 – paragraph 1
Article 17 – paragraph 1
1. For the purpose of Article 15(2), without prejudice to any possible fees charged on other digital euro payment services, payment services providers shall not charge transactional fees to natural persons as referred to in Article 13(1), points (a), (b) and (c), for the provision of the basic digital euro payment services referred to in Annex 2.
Amendment 441 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 17 – paragraph 2 – introductory part
Article 17 – paragraph 2 – introductory part
2. For the purpose of Article 15(2), any merchant service charge or inter-PSP fee in relation to digital euro payment transactions shall comply with the principle of proportionality. Any merchant service charge or inter-PSP fee shall not exceed the lowest of the following two amounts:relevant costs incurred by payment services providers for the provision of digital euro payments, including a reasonable margin of profit.
Amendment 446 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 17 – paragraph 2 – point a
Article 17 – paragraph 2 – point a
Amendment 456 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 17 – paragraph 2 – point b
Article 17 – paragraph 2 – point b
Amendment 515 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 22 – paragraph 2
Article 22 – paragraph 2
2. In their relationships with their payment services providers for the provision of digital euro payment services, digital euro users shall not be required to have or open non-digital euro payment accounts or accept other non-digital euro products. if they already hold a non-digital euro payment account with that payment service provider
Amendment 518 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 22 – paragraph 5
Article 22 – paragraph 5
5. Payment service providers shall allow the use of digital euro payment account by more than one digital euro users.to a designated person with prior authorisation
Amendment 525 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 24 – paragraph 1 – point a
Article 24 – paragraph 1 – point a
(a) adopt detailed measures, rules and standards in accordance with Article 5(2) that payment service providers can use to ensure interoperable conditional digital euro payment transactions, pending the approval of the co-legislatures ;
Amendment 533 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 26 – paragraph 1
Article 26 – paragraph 1
The European Central Bank shall seek to ensure to the extent possible the interoperability of standards governinguse and application of digital euro payment services with relevant standards governing private digital means of payment. The European Central Bank shall seek to enable, to the extent possible and where appropriate, private digital means of payment to use rules, standards and processes governing the digital euro payment services.
Amendment 542 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 27 – paragraph 3
Article 27 – paragraph 3
Amendment 616 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 35 – paragraph 4
Article 35 – paragraph 4
4. Personal data processed for tasks referred to in paragraph 1 shall be supported by appropriate technical and organisational measures including state-of- the-art security and privacy-preserving measures. This shall include the clear segregation of personal data to ensure that the European Central Bank and the national central banks cannot directly identify individual digital euro users. All data related to the digital euro should be stored in Europe.