Society in Action: Civil Society and Interest Mobilisation of CBDCs

From 2019 onwards, the European Central Bank (ECB) has worked on a central bank digital currency (CBDC). The digital euro would be a form of public money in an ever-changing payment landscape that has been disrupted by the arrival of new forms of private money (e.g. cryptocurrencies). A CBDC could ensure the continuity of public money amidst the disruption caused by Fintech companies and banks offering private options. Yet, a CBDC may itself become a ‘vector of disruption’ of ‘security, trust, data privacy and the traditional role of banks’, a core theme of this special issue. Yet, far from being a purely ‘technical’ matter, the introduction of a digital euro has become contested at the European Union (EU) and national levels. This paper examines the role of societal actors (banks, civil society groups, and political parties) in that debate, arguing that in the aftermath of the Great Financial Crisis, there were different perspectives on how banks should be managed and what the role of the state should be in finance. It then explains why and how CBDC debates became politicised by applying interest group theory in a multilevel governance setting. The Netherlands provide an intriguing case study because it was selected as a testing ground for a possible CBDC, since the Dutch use more digital payments than others in the EU. In response, Dutch citizens took to the streets protesting against the launch of the digital euro and the matter was hotly debated in the national parliament.