Markus Ferber (another German) who is the center-right coordinator for economic files, will determine Berger’s replacement within the next week. Among the names being floated to fill the role is a former Spanish central banker Fernando Navarrete Rojas.
The digital euro is a virtual counterpart to euro coins and banknotes that the European Central Bank hopes will enhance domestic eurozone payments while unshackling the bloc from foreign providers such as Visa and Mastercard. The EU Commission views the project as essential for fulfilling its strategic autonomy mission.
Awkwardly for von der Leyen, the stiffest resistance to the project has come from her homeland. Small German lenders, in particular, fear that the European Central Bank’s preferred design for a digital currency would suck savings out of their bank accounts undermining their ability to raise funding.
But the idea is also unpopular with many German citizens, who are well known for going out of their way to use cash. Their long-running skepticism of digital payment systems, which they associate with surveillance and control, is sometimes seen as a historical hangover related to previous authoritarian abuse.
Germany, representing the country’s powerful and extended network of cooperative banks, is now leading a group of countries raising concerns about the digital euro’s design.
According to Berger, what banks fear most is that the digital euro could prompt customers to withdraw deposits very suddenly, sparking a destabilizing bank run on smaller lenders. “It’s no longer the money of the bank [after it is transferred],” Berger said, adding that the average deposit for a small German bank is about €3,000.
