What is money in the digital age? Cash, cards, crypto – and now central bank digital currencies. The European Central Bank is working on a digital euro, a new form of central bank-backed money meant to boost Europe’s autonomy, competitiveness, and innovation.

In this episode, we explore how a digital euro might work in practice, what benefits it could bring, and why its current design risks falling short. Is this a bold step into the future of payments or a missed chance to rethink Europe’s financial system?

Whether you’re curious about the future of cash, the rise of digital payments, or Europe’s place in the global financial system, this episode breaks down what’s at stake as the euro goes digital.

Guest: Cyril Monnet, Professor of Economics at the University of Bern and the Study Centre Gerzensee.

Hosts and producers: Victor Aguilar & Alexander Roth.

Research and communication support: Martina Domladovac.

Further reading:

• About the digital euro (European Central Bank)





• “Key objectives of the digital euro” by Christine Lagarde and Fabio Panetta (European Central Bank)





• Digital euro package (European Commission)





• “Why the digital euro might be dead on arrival” by Cyril Monnet and Dirk Niepelt (CEPR)





• “Money is Memory” by Narayana R. Kocherlakota (Journal of Economic Theory)

Listen

… to a few of our previous episodes:

• “Tastes like Europe: how the EU protects its most famous products?”





• “Explaining the EU: one meme at a time (with DG MEME)”





• “Can the EU have an army?”





• “How to land a job in the EU?”

Subscribe

• Spotify





• Apple Podcast





• RSS Feed

Contact

• Website





• E-Mail





• Facebook





• Instagram





• LinkedIn





• Threads





• Mastodon





• Bluesky





• X (Twitter)