Is the ECB allowed to do this? First competition law opinion on the digital euro says yes, with a condition
A legal opinion by Thomas Weck, commissioned by Finanzwende Recherche, examines the competition law side of the digital euro for the first time. Result: permissible as a sovereign act, but the planned basic infrastructure is commercial activity.
What happened
On 2 September 2026 Finanzwende Recherche published a legal opinion on the digital euro. Its author is Dr Thomas Weck, Associate Professor of Public Law, Regulatory Law and Comparative Law at the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management. According to the commissioning organisation it is the first study to classify the planned digital euro explicitly in competition law terms — as an intervention in a market that has so far been largely privately organised. Core finding: the introduction and use of the digital euro within the framework of monetary policy are a sovereign activity, and in that respect the Eurosystem acts as a public authority and not as an undertaking. The planned basic infrastructure, by contrast, is very much commercial activity; the statutory advantages attached to it can, however, be justified by the contribution to monetary policy. Overall the opinion concludes that the digital euro in its currently planned form can be justified, but that the interface between monetary policy and competition must be observed.
Who it affects
Merchants who are expected to accept the digital euro in future. Banks, payment network operators (Netzbetreiber) and acquirers whose business touches a public infrastructure. And everyone following the legislative process for the regulation, which is expected to conclude at the end of 2026.
Assessment
The opinion is commissioned work by an organisation with a clear stance, and it is remarkable nonetheless: it could have set out the limits for the ECB and ends up with a yes. That is precisely what makes it useful for the debate. The interesting line sits in the middle — where the basic infrastructure is classified as commercial activity. That is the sentence private payment service providers will hold on to in future.
For merchants, nothing changes today. What really affects them is not in the opinion but in the draft regulation: the question of what accepting the digital euro may be allowed to cost. As long as that cap is not in place, any statement about the effect on your own cost side is speculation. Anyone already accepting cards today should treat the digital euro as a possible additional channel, not as a replacement for anything.
What to do now
- Put the date in the calendar on which the legislative process for the regulation concludes — only then will fee limits and acceptance obligations be settled.
- Ask your own payment service provider whether and how it intends to connect the digital euro, and get the answer in writing.
- Check contracts running beyond 2027 for clauses on new payment methods: who bears the integration costs?