Opportunity for Europe to Establish Financial Independence through Payment Sovereignty
Europe is taking significant strides towards achieving payment sovereignty, a goal that aims to create a European payment alternative that is secure, interoperable, and independent of foreign payment infrastructures. This initiative is primarily driven by the digital euro project, which plans to leverage public blockchain technologies like Ethereum and Solana for its infrastructure [1][2][3].
The need for this move stems from the dominance of U.S. dollar-backed stablecoins and the acceleration of U.S. regulations promoting their adoption. By adopting scalable, secure public blockchains, the EU hopes to support cross-border payments, programmability, and on-chain euro liquidity while enhancing regulatory clarity for European stablecoins and decentralized finance (DeFi) [1][2].
The European Central Bank (ECB) and the European Commission are also working to maintain the coexistence of digital and cash payments under a holistic legal framework to preserve payment options for all Europeans and ensure broad accessibility [5].
The digital euro's success hinges on its user-friendliness and the real added value it provides. New projects like Wero could drive progress, but it is uncertain if they are enough to create a genuine European payment alternative [4].
The discussion on Europe's payment sovereignty was a key topic at the Payment Exchange 2025 event. Panelists, including Oliver Hommel, CEO of EURO Kartensysteme, and Marcus Mosen, Chairman of the Supervisory Board at N26, expressed concerns about the pace of innovation in the European payment sector and the potential benefits of a digital euro [6].
Hommel emphasized that Europe's past experiences, such as the US politically exploiting its payment power against Venezuela, serve as a cautionary tale about the risks of critical infrastructures not being under European control [7]. Mosen, on the other hand, advocated for more pragmatism and did not downplay the risks but saw the situation more calmly [8].
Lars-Thorben Niggehoff, a freelance journalist and founder of the journalism bureau dreimaldrei, who writes about financial topics, SMEs, and the real estate market for various publications, highlighted that payment sovereignty is a strategic question for all of Europe, not just experts [9].
In summary, Europe's steps towards payment sovereignty involve launching a digital euro pilot using public blockchains, accelerating work in response to U.S. stablecoin regulation, designing a hybrid payment infrastructure, and emphasizing the strategic importance of controlling payments infrastructure to prevent over-dependence on foreign providers [1][2][3][4][5]. These measures together constitute a coordinated effort to create a sovereign European payment ecosystem that can challenge external dominance and enhance the euro’s role internationally. However, there is uncertainty about the digital euro, with some questioning its necessity, and a satisfactory answer to these questions is still pending [8]. To secure Europe's payment future, more speed, more courage, and more European cooperation are needed.
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