2024-11-10-欧洲央行-华盛顿特区经济节开场白（英）_9页_691kb

Summary of Piero Cipollone's Speech

Introduction

Piero Cipollone, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, addressed the Washington, DC Economic Festival on October 23, 2024, discussing CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency), cross-border payments, and the future of money in a deglobalized world. His speech focused on ECBC's mandate to navigate digitalization and geopolitical risks, emphasizing the need for European solutions.

Current Challenges

The ECB faces challenges from rapid digitalization and the risk of payment fragmentation due to geopolitical factors and national retail solutions lacking European-wide integration. These issues necessitate actions in four key areas: enhancing SEPA, digital euro development, exploring new technologies for wholesale settlements, and cross-border interlinking.

Enhancing SEPA

SEPA lacks digital payment options for daily transactions like in-store, mobile, and e-commerce payments. The Eurosystem aims to foster privately operated, pan-European payment solutions governed at the European level, supporting market initiatives and fully deploying instant payments to improve efficiency and interactivity.

Digital Euro

A digital euro is being considered to bring central bank money into the digital age, offering a digital equivalent to cash. It would support Europe's digital transition by ensuring access to a public good, providing daily convenience, and enhancing strategic autonomy by using European technology. Efforts are underway to lay the technical foundations for its issuance.

Exploring New Technologies for Wholesale Settlement

With rising adoption of financial technologies, particularly distributed ledger technology (DLT) and tokens, the ECB is testing DLT for wholesale transactions. This aims to lower barriers for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), reduce settlement times, and automate processes through smart contracts, potentially revolutionizing market structures and supporting the capital markets union.

Cross-Border Interlinking

The ECB is launching initiatives to improve cross-border payments, aligning with G20 objectives. This includes leveraging multi-currency settlement in systems like TIPS, interlinking with fast payment systems globally, and exploring instant payments outside the euro area. The goal is full deployment and user-friendliness for seamless cross-border transactions.

Conclusion

ECB's focus areas include solidifying SEPA, advancing the digital euro, enabling cross-border interlinking, and harnessing new technologies for wholesale trade. These efforts aim to ensure Europe's financial future remains robust and adaptive in a changing world.