A European Union official defended the bloc's decision to giveĀ AmazonĀ (AMZN) a prime role in testing a digital euro.
The U.S. retail giant was one of five companies selected by the European Central Bank to develop a user interface for a potential central bank digital currency (CBDC)Ā earlier this month, ahead of a September 2023 decision over whether to actually issue a digital euro.
āThe prototyping experiments for the front end are driven by technological considerations,ā Jürgen Schaaf, an adviser to ECB senior management on payment issues, said Wednesday in a panel discussion in London that was hosted by the Association for Financial Markets in Europe. āThe companies that have been chosen for that five were the most appropriate in terms of the needs that we have for technological tests and experiments.ā
Amazon, which will look into the use of CBDCās in e-commerce, is the only non-EU company included among the five selected. Others include payment companies Nexi and Worldline, Spainās CaixaBank (CABK), and the European Payments Initiative, a consortium of euro-area banks.
The results of the prototypes wonāt automatically feed into the subsequent experimental phase, Schaaf said, suggesting Amazon wonāt continue to have favored access.
Ensuring Europeās resilience and autonomy is one of the stated goals of the digital euro, in a payments market that is dominated by non-European companies like Visa and Mastercard. Schaaf cited the risks if financial sanctions imposed from abroad put the brakes on the EU economy by limiting transactions, but said he didn't want to see a "political" exclusion of U.S. companies.
āOur wish to strengthen our monetary autonomy with a digital euro does not mean that Europe would shut down all its gates for retailers from abroad,ā Schaaf said. āThereās no protectionist intention behind that.ā
The EU is one of a number of jurisdictions across the world contemplating a CBDC, and if agreed to, the digital euro could be issued in 2026.