realms, the large - scale adoption of new technologies is also likely to disrupt both the environment in which we, central banks, carry out our tasks and the choices we need to make on the best possible approach to those tasks. indeed, this is true for all central banks ’ functions and responsibilities. however, to illustrate this point, i will focus primarily on one that is attracting much interest lately : our role as the sole issuer of legal tender. ensuring adequate provision of a means of payment that is credit - risk free and fully and efficiently available and accessible to any potential user group is extremely important. to date, cash has been the only asset that enjoys legal tender status and has played this role. yet, the way cash is fathomed and embraced nowadays is heavily influenced by the increasing digitalisation of society, and by technological change more generally. for example, the behaviour, preferences and expectations of users are changing rapidly, as their experience with digital technologies grows. novel payment alternatives, provided either by private players ( both traditional and non - traditional ones ) or by public authorities in various jurisdictions, may also surface and / or expand, presenting greater appeal than traditional banknotes and coins. moreover, new features of existing payment instruments or services, such as programmability, are now becoming possible thanks to emerging technologies. therefore, besides ensuring the availability of cash, we also need to consider new ways of improving the efficiency of retail payments by leveraging digital technology more extensively. all of this could signal the need to broaden the approach and explore new opportunities, aiming to better address modern society ’ s unmet demands. in this process, the notion of a universally accessible cbdc stands out, that is, a new type of central bank digital liability that could be made widely available. a key aspect to underline is that a potential cbdc could coexist perfectly well with physical cash, which serves an important role and for which - at least in the euro area - there is still strong demand. 1 in other words, traditional cash and a cbdc might be natural partners, rather than potential substitutes for each other as they are often presented. however, before taking any major decision on the issue of a cbdc, several important questions need to be answered : what precise complementary roles would cash, bank accounts and digital coins play? should central banks focus on securing a sound regulation that offers appropriate safeguards and leave the private sector to come up with viable alternatives? or should we ensure the provision of a

over $ 20 trillion in 2019 and are expected to hit $ 30 trillion by 2022. 6 other aspects, such as addressing front - end fragmentation in the common market, swiftly achieving a greater scale and securing stronger european governance, also explain why this topic is becoming an increasing concern for the euro area. given their differences both in scope and goals i think it is best, for the sake of clarity, if i walk you through these various projects one by one. starting with the latter case, i would like to mention the recent decision by 16 major european banks in various member states to launch the european payment initiative or epi. this project builds on the success of the single euro payments area - sepa - which laid the foundations for a truly cohesive cashless euro payments space and has made an essential contribution to the efficiency and competitiveness of the european economy. however, despite all the efforts, sepa fell short in delivering full integration at the point of sale, thus leaving the door open for alternative proposals such as the epi. by leveraging their large market share, the epi promoters aim to deploy a unified payment solution for consumers and merchants across europe, encompassing a payment card and a digital wallet to cover all potential uses at the point of some figures that show the growing relevance of these elements are : a ) 15 % - 20 % of e - commerce transaction value is already international ; b ) international tourist arrivals worldwide grew by 53 % from 2010 to 2019 ; c ) annual remittance flows have grown by 50 % in the ten years since 2010, to reach $ 707 billion ; and d ) between 2008 and 2018 the value of merchandise trade exports increased by 20 % and the value of exports of commercial services by 46 %. source : “ enhancing cross - border payments - stage 1 report to the g20 : technical background report ”, financial stability board, april 2020. [ https : / / www. fsb. org / wp - content / uploads / p090420 - 2. pdf ] " cross - border payment systems have been neglected for too long ", j. cunliffe, july 2020, financial times. [ https : / / www. bis. org / cpmi / speeches / sp200730. htm ] interaction : in - store, online, person - to - person and cash withdrawals. to further increase its appeal, settlement will be instant, via sepa instant credit transfer. from a eurosyst