In a speech in Rome, Piero Cipollone, Executive Board member of the European Central Bank, warned that Europe cannot take its monetary sovereignty for granted amid growing geopolitical tensions and rapid technological change.
Cipollone argued that while the euro has strengthened Europe’s sovereignty—both domestically and internationally—new dependencies in payments and finance risk undermining those gains. He stressed that excessive reliance on non-European digital payment providers, international card schemes and US dollar-denominated stablecoins leaves the euro area vulnerable, particularly in a more fragmented global environment.
To address these risks, he highlighted the importance of launching a digital euro to ensure Europeans have access to a secure, European public digital payment option. He also outlined plans to introduce tokenised central bank money for wholesale transactions and to build a European digital finance ecosystem, preventing reliance on non-euro settlement assets.
Cipollone further emphasized the need to strengthen Europe’s capital markets to better finance innovative companies, reducing dependence on foreign venture capital and improving the transmission of monetary policy.
Concluding, he framed reinforcing Europe’s control over payments, digital finance and innovation funding as essential steps in safeguarding economic resilience, competitiveness and the euro area’s long-term monetary sovereignty.
