The 'digital euro' does not deserve its name!

Pirate Party MEP and digital freedom fighter Dr Patrick Breyer
criticizes yesterday's draft bill by the EU Commission to introduce a
"digital euro".

The introduction of digital cash would be long overdue in the
information age. Digital cash could be as anonymous and freely usable on
the internet as notes and coins. However, the 'digital euro' now
proposed by the Commission does not deserve that name. Digital
technology is to be misused to monitor, limit and control our finances
to an extent never seen with cash.

While cash can be accepted and spent anonymously at any time, which is
important for undocumented refugees, for example, it will only be
possible to receive and spend digital euros with an account against
presentation of identification. While people are allowed to hold and
pass on unlimited amounts of cash, the amount of digital euros in our
hands will be limited in the future.

And while with cash even confidential payments and controversial donations have so far been
possible anonymously and without fear of becoming known, trace-free
payments in digital euros are to be completely impossible online and
limited offline to an unknown and ever-changing amount.

The declared aim of fighting money laundering and terrorism is just a pretext to gain
more and more control over our private transactions. Where every payment
is recorded and stored forever, there is a threat of hacker attacks,
unauthorised investigations and chilling state oversight of every
purchase and donation.

Cash is financial freedom without pressure to justify spending. What
medicines or sex toys I buy is nobody's business. For thousands of
years, societies around the world have lived with cash that protects
privacy. The EU Commission wants to deprive us of this financial freedom
for online payments. In the legislative process, this birth defect must
be corrected. We need to find ways to take the best features of cash
into our digital future.

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