Fabio Panetta, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, recently presented a report to the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament on the digital euro project. The report focuses on how people could access, hold, and use the digital euro, as well as the potential services and features it could offer. Panetta highlights the importance of ensuring that the digital euro is widely available and easy to use, just like cash. He suggests that a regulatory framework is needed to replicate the cash-like features of the digital euro and give it legal tender status. Panetta also emphasizes the need for widespread acceptance and broad access to the digital euro, which would require regulatory measures to ensure that it is available to consumers and merchants throughout the euro area. He discusses the importance of a common set of standards, or a “payment scheme,” to enable a seamless European payment experience with the digital euro. Panetta also mentions the use of economic incentives to encourage the active distribution of the digital euro and ensure its wide availability. He proposes four core principles for a digital euro compensation model, including free basic use for consumers, compensation for intermediaries, safeguards to prevent overcharging of merchants, and the Eurosystem bearing its own costs. Panetta concludes by stating that the design of the digital euro and its regulatory framework will determine its success as a public good, and he looks forward to continuing discussions with European legislators during the legislative process. The ECB aims to promptly begin issuing a digital euro once the necessary legislative act has been adopted.