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{% extends "common/news.j2" %}
{% block body_content %}
<h1>2021-2: Helping the European Commission</h1>
<p>
In December 2020 the European Parliament asked the European Commission
about the suitability of GNU Taler to establish a digital Euro in a
<a href="https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-9-2020-006895_EN.html">small inquiry</a>.
In the <a href="https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-9-2020-006895-ASW_EN.html">official answer</a>,
the commission mostly asserts that it is unable &quot;to assess the functioning of the GNU Taler payment system&quot;,
and points to a maximum transaction limit of 150 EUR, without really answering
the questions raised by the inquiry.
</p>

<p>
To assist the European Union with regards to the inquiry, we point
out that the operation of GNU Taler is completely and transparently
made public at <a href="https://taler.net/">https://taler.net/</a>,
so if the European Commission is, like anyone else, in position to assess the
functioning of the GNU Taler payment system. We recently also described
details of how the system would function for an E-Euro in a
<a href="https://www.snb.ch/en/mmr/papers/id/working_paper_2021_03">working paper
with the Swiss National Bank</a>.  Based on our publicly available documentation,
Prof. Birchler, a previous member of the directorate of the Swiss National Bank,
<a href="https://www.batz.ch/2021/03/digitales-bargeld-swiss-made/">publicly
commented</a> that our approach is the best published proposal for digital cash.
</p>

<p> With respect to EU policy objectives, we would like to point out that the
150 EUR limit postulated by the European Commission for private payments is
very low, and in our view incompatible with the data protection objectives of
the European Union. We want to stress that with GNU Taler, only the citizen
making the payment can remain anonymous. Thus, Taler is not suitable for money
laundering or illegal business activities as receivers of payments are easily
identified.  A recent <a
href="https://www.ecb.europa.eu//press/pr/date/2021/html/ecb.pr210113~ec9929f446.en.html">broad
consultation</a> by the European Central Bank showed that the European
population demands privacy compareable to physical cash when it comes to the
Digital Euro.  With cash, the transaction limit is at 10,000 EUR. Thus, were
the 150 EUR limit apply truly to all forms of privacy-friendly electronic
cash, this would be a key point where the European Union should provide for more
citizen-friendly regulation, especially for technical solutions that include
security features that adequately minimize the risk of citizens suffering
financial losses.
</p>

<p>
Finally, we would like to stress that the GNU Taler project is open to
a cooperation with the European Central Bank, and is happy to answer
questions from specialists of the European Parliament or the European
Commission.
</p>

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