In October 2021, the Eurosystem kicked off the “digital euro” project with a two-year investigation phase. The outcome of this phase was a design concept for a digital euro, which was used as the basis for a legislative proposal by the European Commission on 28 June 2023. 

In mid-October 2023, the ECB Governing Council decided to move to the next two-year stage of the project – the preparation phase. This phase involved: 

1.  pressing ahead with development of a digital euro scheme rulebook;
2. selecting providers for digital euro components and related services;
3. providing an innovation platform for testing with market participants;
4. tasking the Euro Retail Payments Board with investigating how the digital euro would fit into the European payments ecosystem.

On 1 November 2025, the Eurosystem entered the next phase of the digital euro project, which is aimed at preparing the Eurosystem for the potential issuance of the digital euro in the course of 2029.

This phase involves testing the possible infrastructure. In addition, requirements in areas such as user experience, data protection, financial inclusion and environmental impact will be worked out in more detail. As before, this will take place in close consultation with the public, market participants and all stakeholders involved.

In parallel to this, the EU institutions are working on drawing up a legal framework for the digital euro based on the European Commission’s legislative proposal from June 2023. The proposal is currently going through the legislative process in the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament. This process is expected to be concluded at the end of 2026. The ECB must take any additional requests from the legislators into account when designing the digital euro. This means that the digital euro can only be issued once the legislative procedure has been completed and the digital euro law is in place.

Pilot

The ECB Governing Council announced the transition to the next phase of the digital euro project at the end of October 2025. 

During this phase, a pilot exercise will be prepared to ensure the technical readiness of the digital euro. The aim is to gain insights into operational, technical and user-related aspects and to create the basis for a potential first issuance of the digital euro by 2029. Assuming that the legal basis is adopted by the end of 2026, the digital euro would be soft launched following the pilot.

Call for merchants to participate in the digital euro pilot

The Bundesbank has launched a call for expressions of interest in the market (see the section below), inviting merchants to participate in the digital euro pilot at a point of sale (POS) in Germany. The Bundesbank is looking for experienced retailers who can operate a temporary POS at one of the Bank’s premises in Frankfurt am Main during the pilot. This call follows on from the selection of payment service providers (PSPs) to participate in the pilot and the Eurosystem’s call for expressions of interest from merchants in electronic and mobile commerce (e-commerce and m-commerce).

The pilot is planned to start in the second half of 2027 and will run for 12 months. It will be possible to extend the pilot by up to six months. The pilot will involve staff from participating Eurosystem central banks, in particular the Bundesbank, selected PSPs and selected merchants offering everyday goods. This call for expressions of interest specifically targets merchants at the POS. 

The idea is for merchants to test real payments using a beta version of the digital euro under controlled conditions. This beta version will be functionally and technically close to the digital euro as foreseen in the draft legislation but will not have legal tender status. Testing will focus on technical payment acceptance, processes at the point of sale and user experience. Participating merchants will gain valuable experience in using the digital euro and will help inform its design through the planned feedback mechanisms.

Information on participation

• Participation in the pilot is voluntary and will not be remunerated. Merchants selected through this call will be invited to enter into a participation agreement with the Bundesbank. This will govern their participation in the pilot. A draft of this participation agreement can be found in Annex 3. They will also be required to establish or adapt their contractual relationship with an acquiring pilot payment service provider for the purposes of the pilot.
• In the pilot, the selected merchants will act as business end users, enabling beta digital euro payments at the POS and contributing to the validation of the digital euro payment experience, operational processes and core functionalities.
• The Bundesbank will assess applications based on formal eligibility requirements and suitability of the proposed offer.
• Interested merchants are invited to complete the application and submit it to the email address below by 17:00 CET on Friday, 20 November 2026.