A virtual panel discussion on central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), organized by the Bank for International Settlements, featured ECB President Christine Lagarde, who was quoted as saying that a digital euro is essential to maintaining Europe's payment independence (BIS).

As stated by Bloomberg, Lagarde continued, “When you look at your wallet and you look at your telephone and see the applications that you use for payments or the cards that you use for payment, you very soon realize that those means of payments are not necessarily European.”

The top ECB official cautioned against relying on a single source for crucial aspects of everyday life during the meeting held and filmed earlier in March but posted on Tuesday, using Russia's decision to weaponize energy supply as an example and adding: "So we just have to be careful. Some people will call it sovereign autonomy, I prefer to call it resilience because that’s really what it is."

The investigative phase of the initiative to issue a digital version of the euro, which began in mid-2021, is still ongoing. The ECB published a second report on the progress made during this phase in December 2022, and the finance ministers of the eurozone countries endorsed the program in January 2023.

Lagarde predicted that Brussels would shortly release a draught law for the CBDC in November of last year. By the end of June, the European Commission is anticipated to propose the legal framework. Later this year, a decision should be made regarding whether to move forward with the project's implementation.

The tendency of growing digital payments as cash usage is declining was emphasized by Christine Lagarde. She emphasized that the digital euro is meant to be secure, sovereign, and accessible at the lowest cost possible.

She acknowledged that it won't offer the same level of privacy as paper currency, though. She admitted, that digital money will never be as anonymous as cash, which is why cash will always be around.