In addition, this scenario would raise risks about the euro area autonomy and privacy in payments. It could even endanger European sovereignty. Moreover, many large economies could issue CBDCs with benefits in terms of efficiency, scalability, liquidity and safety that would support their attractiveness internationally. They would have the potential to facilitate cross-border payments, which may enhance their role as a global payment unit.
In such a context, for a large economy, as in the case of the euro area, not issuing a CBDC could undermine the international role of the currency itself, thus creating additional risks to sovereignty. In sum, in this historical conjuncture the higher risk is that of not investigating the issues and doing nothing.