Patriots for Europe: Digital Euro Vote a Significant Setback for European Payments

Brussels, 24/06/2026 - The European Parliament adopted its position on the digital euro, a decision that raises serious concerns over centralisation of power, additional costs, unfair competition and citizens’ financial freedom.

“The European Parliament had a chance to defend Europe's own payment systems and confront its dependence on foreign platforms. Instead, it chose a costlier, less secure public alternative, and along the way it waived basic identity checks for asylum seekers, ”said Auke Zijlstra (PVV), the group's shadow rapporteur on the Single Currency Package.

He noted that the rapporteur's original text (Fernando Navarrete, EPP) had moved in the right direction by distinguishing between the offline and online uses of the digital euro. That distinction would have given Europe's own payment systems the time and confidence to develop and scale. Patriots regret that this path was dropped in favour of a text aligned with the demands of the left. The final version of the text increases the role of central EU institutions and places further pressure on private payment systems already operating in the European market.

With this decision, most businesses are required to accept the digital euro, creating new administrative and operational burdens for merchants, banks and payment service providers. Although basic services are presented as free of charge, an infrastructure of this scale carries real costs, which ultimately fall on businesses, consumers or taxpayers.

Zijlstra also criticised the decision to waive Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements for asylum seekers. "This creates an unjustified disparity with the standards applied to European citizens," he said, warning that it places banks in an inconsistent position when they cannot adequately verify a client's identity and assets.

“The problem is not digital innovation. The problem is using innovation as a pretext to concentrate more power, impose new obligations and create a public infrastructure that weakens competition, privacy and Europeans’ financial freedom.

"Yesterday’s vote marks a significant setback for the development of digital payments in Europe," Zijlstra concluded. "Rather than advancing innovation, competition and resilience, the European Union has taken a step in the opposite direction."