comes with hardly any unwanted implications. rather, it is easy to implement, because there would be no need to upgrade the existing and established t2 system. that is the good news from the wholesale side. now i would like to focus on the retail project. 2 why we need a digital euro the digital euro is currently in the " preparation phase ", as it is called. in this phase, which is scheduled to run until october 2025, our experts are preparing for the possible implementation of a retail digital euro in the euro area. the ecb's governing council will take a decision after this phase and following adoption of the necessary legislation. i am aware that some people have their reservations about the digital euro project. we need to take these reservations seriously and counter people's concerns with compelling arguments. one of the main arguments against a digital euro is that we do not need it at all. in my view, that argument is flawed. our lives are turning increasingly digital. in shops, more and more people prefer to pay with cashless means of payment. and when it comes to online shopping, which is becoming ever more important, we as customers have no choice but to pay electronically. both of these factors mean that cash use is lower than it once was. however, the electronic payment options currently available to euro area households have their deficiencies. some payment cards work only in specific countries. and all the cross - border payment options are currently non - european, which limits our strategic autonomy in a critical infrastructure. that's why, as a service provider to society, we are thinking about offering a digital form of central bank money for the general public. 3 results from a public survey on the digital euro if i could see you now, i would see a group of experts who know exactly what makes cbdc special. and what sets it apart from other digital assets. however, if we look at the digital euro's main target group, the general public, we see significant gaps in their knowledge and understanding. 2 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches a recent representative survey for the bundesbank showed that this is the case for the german population. 1 only 41 percent of respondents said they had already heard, read or seen anything about the digital euro. by contrast, 59 percent said they knew nothing about it yet. that doesn't come as much of a surprise, though. as long as the final decision on the digital euro has not been taken, it makes little

both papers covered by the panel provide useful thoughts on the trade - off between data use and data protection. 2 data are considered the most valuable commodity of the 21st century. and, in principle, there is nothing wrong with people paying for services with their personal data. provided they know who is using which data for what purpose and they explicitly accept those uses. however, many people aren't happy about their data being used commercially. they don't want people to be tracking their consumption behaviour. and they are perfectly entitled to have their data protected. so if you were to go to a winery in eltville to buy some bottles of riesling and pay with the digital euro, only the bank that operates your wallet would have full visibility of the transaction. but it is not allowed to use that information commercially without your consent. the eurosystem will not be able to assign the transaction to you personally. and if you pay offline, no personal information whatsoever is shared with anyone else. like with cash. 3 5 conclusion ladies and gentlemen, there is still a long way to go before we can issue the digital euro. exchanging views and opinions with experts from outside the eurosystem is very important and valuable in this regard. 1 deutsche bundesbank ( 2024 ), bundesbank survey : widespread acceptance of digital euro among general public, press release, 4 june. 2 agur, i., a. ari & g. dell'ariccia ( 2023 ), bank competition and household privacy in a digital payment monopoly, imf working paper wp 23 / 121 ; tinn, k. & c. dubach ( 2024 ), ( central bank ) digital currency with asymmetric privacy - theory model, mimeo. 3 european central bank ( 2024 ), progress on the preparation phase of a digital euro - first progress report ( europa. eu ). 4 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches