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An unrestricted use of digital euro as a store of value could endanger financial stability
in the euro area, with adverse effects on credit provision to the economy by credit
institutions. This may require that the European Central Bank, with a view to ensuring
the stability of the financial system, and in line with the principle of proportionality,
introduce limits on the digital euro’s use as a store of value. The policy tools that
could be used for this purpose include, but would not be restricted to, quantitative
limits to individual digital euro holdings and limits to conversion of other categories of
funds to digital euro in a specified timeframe. When deciding on the parameters and
use of the instruments referred to in paragraph 1, the European Central Bank should
respect the principle of an open market economy with free competition, in accordance
with Article 127(1) TFEU.
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Limits should not be used to substitute for early intervention or other supervisory
measures. Neither should such limits be imposed to address situations of individual
credit institutions which competent resolution authorities or other relevant authorities
would normally deal with by using tools and powers at their disposal, including
suspensions of payment, moratoria, measures available under Directive 2013/36/EU,
Directive 2014/59/EU or Regulation (EU) No 806/2014, or other similar measures
which are aimed at restoring the viability, resolving the institution concerned or
otherwise remedying the situation of financial distress.
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Digital euro users should have the choice to use the digital euro either online or
offline, or both, subject to the limits set respectively by the European Central Bank
and by a Commission implementing act. The payment service providers should
register and de-register the local storage devices for offline digital euro payment
transactions of their customers. The payment service providers should only store the
identifier of the local storage device used for offline digital euro for the duration of
facilitating the provision of offline digital euro to their customers. The payment
service providers should implement appropriate technical and organisational measures
including state-of-the-art security and privacy-preserving measures to ensure that the
identifier of the device of individual digital euro users cannot be used for other
purposes other than for the purpose of the provision of offline digital euro.
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The payment service providers should register and re-register the local storage devices
for offline digital euro payment transactions of their customers. The payment service
providers should only store the identifier of the local storage device used for offline
digital euro for the duration of facilitating the provision of offline digital euro to their
customers. The payment service providers should implement appropriate technical and
organisational measures including state-of-the-art security and privacy-preserving
measures to ensure that the identifier of the device of individual digital euro users
cannot be compared with the information about the digital euro user in order to
identify the data subject, except for the purpose of Article 37.
(36)
The digital euro should allow for a smooth payment experience. Any instruments that
the European Central Bank might employ to limit the digital euro’s store of value
function should take this objective into account. Automated mechanisms that link a
digital euro payment account with a non-digital euro payment account should allow
for an uninhibited payment functionality of the digital euro, by ensuring that
transactions are successfully executed in the presence of individual digital euro
holding limits that may become binding on the payer’s or payee’s side. In particular,
digital euro users should be able to initiate a digital euro payment transaction even
though the amount of their digital euro holdings is inferior to the amount of the
transaction, by automatically mobilising funds from a non-digital euro payment
account to complement the transaction amount (‘reverse waterfall functionality’).
Conversely, digital euro users should be able to receive digital euro payment
transactions even though the amount of the transaction exceeds the limit set on their
digital euro holdings, by automatically transferring funds in excess of the limit to a
non-digital euro payment account (‘waterfall functionality’). Such payment
functionalities should be expressly authorized by digital euro users. Where digital euro
payment account held by one payment service provider is linked with non-digital euro
payment account held by another payment service provider, they should enter into an
arrangement specifying their respective roles and responsibilities under data protection
rules, as well as agree on the security measures necessary to ensure secure
transmission of personal data between the two payment service providers.
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While instruments employed by the European Central Bank to limit an excessive use
of the digital euro as a store of value aim at safeguarding financial stability and
financial intermediation, they may nonetheless impact on and interact with the
European Central Bank’s monetary policy stance. Such instruments would therefore
need to be applied uniformly across the euro area in order to ensure the use of the
digital euro as a single currency and the singleness of the monetary policy.
Furthermore, a uniform application would be necessary to ensure a level playing field
for payment service providers in the European single market or avoid an overly
complex enforcement of any instrument through payment service providers on the
basis of digital euro users’ residency. Within the framework of this Regulation, the
digital euro should not bear interest for the purposes of primarily using the digital euro
as a means of payment while limiting its use as a store of value.
(38)
Limits to the use of the digital euro for digital euro users residing or established
outside the euro area should not be more favourable than for digital euro users residing
or established in the euro area, also to cater for monetary sovereignty and financial
stability concerns both within and outside the euro area.
(39)
Any limits to the store of value function that the European Central Bank decided on
should be binding on and implemented by the payment service providers distributing
the digital euro. While natural or legal persons may have one or more digital euro
payment accounts at the same payment service provider or at different payment
service providers, they should be subject to an individual holding limit that a digital
euro user may allocate across different payment services providers. Payment service
providers may offer digital euro users the possibility to legally have a joint digital euro
payment account. In this case, any holding limit applied to the joint digital euro
payment account should be equal to the sum of the allocated holding limits of the
digital euro users. Where a digital euro payment account is legally held by only one
digital euro user, but can be technically accessed to and used by several persons, upon
de facto or legal mandate given by the digital euro user, any holding limit applied to
the digital euro payment account should remain equal to the holding limit defined for a
digital euro payment account held by a single digital euro user, to avoid any
circumvention of the holding limits.
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