now. ultimately, however, the decision on the regulatory framework for fees is primarily a matter for you, as european legislators. the first principle is that, as a public good, the digital euro should serve society. we believe consumers should be able to use it free of charge for basic day - to - day purposes. second, intermediaries should be compensated for the services they provide, just like they are for other digital payments. third, legislative safeguards should prevent merchants from being overcharged by intermediaries if they are obliged to accept digital euro as legal tender. while we believe that the digital euro would allow for more competitive fees, this principle would ensure that fees for merchants cannot exceed the current levels for comparable means of payment. finally, the eurosystem would bear its own costs, for example for settlement [ 21 ] activities and managing the common standards for making and receiving payments in digital euro. this would reflect the public good nature of the digital euro and follow the same logic that currently applies to cash. the savings that arise from the eurosystem covering its own costs would ultimately benefit the end - users. the path ahead let me conclude. the design of the digital euro and its regulatory framework are key to ensuring that it retains its key characteristics as a public good. it will then be european legislators to decide whether the digital euro will be an inclusive, truly european means of payment – widely usable and accessible across the entire euro area, free for basic use, and offering the highest levels of privacy. the success of a digital euro will be in your hands. the ecb stands ready to continue discussing all these issues with you during the legislative process. throughout the next project phase, which is expected to be launched later this year, we will accommodate any necessary adjustments to the design of the digital euro that may emerge from legislative deliberations. in that phase, we will develop and test the possible technical solutions and business arrangements necessary to provide a digital euro. these two processes – legislative and design – should advance in parallel so we can be in a position to promptly begin issuing a digital euro, if and when warranted. the possible decision by the governing council to issue a digital euro would be taken only after the legislative act has been adopted. we will take all the necessary measures to ensure that the digital euro would act as a true public good. but all european institutions have to play their part to achieve our common goal of making the digital euro a success. this is why we are looking

access to digital euro. this would also endanger network effects necessary to the success of a payment solution ( see footnote 9 ). 16. there are lessons to be learned from the delays in achieving pan euro area reach in case of the sepa credit transfers and direct debit schemes and then also the sepa instant credit transfer scheme. if broad access is to be ensured for the digital euro, the required regulatory measures need to be established at an earlier stage in the process. 17. panetta, f. ( 2022 ), “ building on our strengths : the role of the public and private sectors in the digital euro ecosystem ”, introductory statement at the committee on economic and monetary affairs of the european parliament, brussels, 29 september. 18. to avoid placing an additional investment burden on intermediaries, the digital euro scheme rulebook development groupecb hosts first digital euro rulebook development group ( rdg ) meeting is investigating how to leverage existing standards and solutions as much as possible, and how to make the digital euro compatible with existing solutions. it will also reflect on present and future regulatory requirements. see as well as rdg mandate and the related calls for expression of interestscheme compatibility workstream by experts to participate in workstreams ( e. g. ). 19. a compensation model for the digital euro refers to the framework that determines how entities are remunerated for their participation in or use of a digital euro currency. the digital euro compensation model is a four - party scheme with variations concerning three aspects : ( i ) pricing for private individuals, ( ii ) pricing for merchants, and ( iii ) costs for the eurosystem. the model could also cover factors such as transaction fees, interest rates, incentives and other mechanisms for compensating users. see ecb ( 2023 ), “ compensation model for the digital euro ”, presentation at the euro retail payments board, 22 february. 20. ecb ( 2020 ), “ report on a digital euro ”, october. the scope of digital euro basic services is yet to be defined, but it should be similar in nature to the basic services that banks are required to provide under the payment accounts directive. these basic services could therefore include features such as free - to - open digital euro accounts / wallets, payments between individuals, and the funding and defunding of digital euro accounts / wallets. if consumers had to pay for the basic services, it would also put the digital euro at a