A member of the eurozone is amending its constitution in order to guarantee citizens the right to cash payments. The move comes amid growing fears that a digital version of the common European currency may eventually become the only means of payment in the eurozone, despite currently being touted as merely an alternative.
Lawmakers in Slovakia Approve Constitutional Provision Preserving Cash Payments
Slovaks will have the right to buy goods and services with cash guaranteed under an amendment to their constitution approved by a sizable majority in the nation’s parliament. According to a report by the Euractiv news portal, 111 out of 150 members of the legislature backed the respective draft law.
The legislation aims to protect physical payments in case that the use of the digital euro becomes mandatory in the eurozone, of which Slovakia is a member. The digital version of the euro area’s single currency is still under development led by the European Central Bank (ECB).
The amendment was proposed by the right-wing, Eurosceptic Sme Rodina (We Are Family) party. “It is very important that there is a provision in the Constitution based on which we can defend ourselves in the future against any orders from the outside, saying there can only be digital euro and no other payment options,” Miloš Svrček, one of the law’s authors, was quoted as stating.
EU institutions claim they don’t intend to replace cash with the new central bank digital currency (CBDC) but rather supplement it. However, critics suspect that transactions with it will be controlled by the ECB and fear digital euro payments may become mandatory across the eurozone. Marián Viskupič, a liberal lawmaker, commented:
It may be initially sold as an alternative, but gradually it will become apparent that it can only be exclusive.
Viskupič added that the digital euro would facilitate the “monitoring of a person’s entire life” by the ECB and described the CBDC project as “a social engineer’s dream”. Far-right members of the legislature took a similar stance, warning about “total loss of privacy.”
Meanwhile, the National Council, as Slovakia’s parliament is called, also passed an amendment protecting the interests of merchants refusing to accept cash for “appropriate or generally applicable reasons.” Among them are operators of card-only vending machines and shopkeepers worried about robberies, for example.
Do you expect other members of the eurozone to adopt legislation preserving cash payments? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below.
