1 June marks the establishment of ELI. This year, ELI will be celebrating its 13th anniversary as well as its second ELI Members’ Day. It is in one of several fora that ELI has established, in line with Article 3 of its Statute (on Aims), for discussion and cooperation. The event takes place online, providing an occasion to gather ELI Members together outside the traditional Annual Conference assembly in autumn. On this occasion, a webinar on ‘The Future of Money’, a topic proposed by ELI Member Prof Dr Marko Dimitrijević, will be held.

Money sits at the heart of our economy and our lives. Today payments have become increasingly digital, with new technologies enabling us to pay without cash and banknotes. Several countries have developed stable crypto-currencies and over 100 central banks are exploring whether and how to implement central bank digital currencies (CBDC). In some countries, the no-cash policy has become an issue, prompting a discussion on the right to pay in cash as a constitutional right, thus preserving freedom of payment and ensuring a higher level of inclusion.

ELI’s webinar will look at regulatory and policy issues relating to the introduction of CBDCs, including the digital Euro. It will therefore constitute an occasion for panelists to shed light on interests that need protection and to reflect on an optimal framework for shaping efficient hard and soft monetary legislation on national and international level, while guaranteeing confidence in the monetary system.

Speakers will also reflect on debates that have arisen in some jurisdictions on the ‘constitutional right’ to conclude transactions in cash, to preserve freedom of payment choice and financial inclusion.

Confirmed speakers:

• Pascal Pichonnaz (ELI President; Professor, University of Fribourg)
• Kim Jørgensen (Permanent Representative of the European Investment Bank to the EU Institutions)
• Evelien Witlox (Programme Director, Digital Euro, European Central Bank)
• Denis Beau (First Deputy Governor of the Banque de France)
• Hubert de Vauplane (Co-chair of the High Committee for the Paris Finance Marketplace working group on the evolution of the concept of money)
• Sir Jon Cunliffe (Former Deputy Governor of the Bank of England)
• Paola Giucca (Head of the Retail Payment Instruments and Services Directorate of the Bank of Italy)
• Anna Martin (Financial Services Officer at The European Consumer Organisation)
• Marko Dimitrijević (Associate Professor and Jean Monnet Module for European Monetary Law (MONELA); Coordinator at the Faculty of Law University of Niš and Former Vice-Dean for Science and Finances)

To register please click here.