Publication date: 7 September 2026.

Claim

The European Union is allegedly preparing to phase out cash by replacing it with the digital euro. Veridica examined this claim by Romanian Member of the European Parliament Gheorghe Piperea. In the passage it reproduced, development of the digital euro is presented as a move against people's wish to keep banknotes and coins.

We are checking the specific claim about replacing cash. Our source for the statement is Veridica's report, which links to the original Facebook post; we do not have independent access to that original post. This check does not establish how widely the claim has circulated among Russian-speaking users.

Verdict

False as a description of the project. The European Central Bank and European Commission materials we checked describe the digital euro as a complement to cash, not a replacement. Alongside its digital euro proposal, the Commission presented a separate proposal to protect access to and acceptance of cash.

This does not mean that every shop must already accept cash in every circumstance. Actual restrictions on particular payments and difficulties accessing ATMs need separate checks.

In brief

• The digital euro is intended as an additional form of central bank money for payments, including payments without an internet connection.

• The ECB explicitly says it would complement banknotes and coins.

• In its package of 28 June 2023, the Commission proposed both a legal framework for the digital euro and protection for the use of cash.

• The ECB's target for a possible first issuance in 2029 is conditional. It is not a date for banning banknotes.

Why this matters

For people in Lithuania and other euro area countries, this concerns everyday purchases and access to payments. Someone without a smartphone or with limited digital skills needs to know whether cash remains an option.

The claim of compulsory cash abolition replaces that practical question with an assertion absent from the materials checked. Concerns about ATM access, data protection and the usability of a future payment instrument remain legitimate. Refuting one claim does not settle those other questions.

What we checked

We compared Veridica's account of the disputed statement with the ECB's current overview of the digital euro, its page on access to and acceptance of cash, and the Commission's original explanation of its legislative package dated 28 June 2023.

We distinguished the stated design of the project, legislative proposals and actual cash-acceptance practices. We do not present a proposed law as an existing rule or a developer's plans as the result of an independent technical audit.

Evidence

1. The ECB explicitly describes two forms of money coexisting

On its Digital euro page, the ECB describes the future instrument as an electronic form of central bank money and explains that it would complement banknotes and coins, giving people an additional choice about how to pay. This directly contradicts the assertion that replacing cash is the project's stated purpose.

The same page describes envisaged access through a bank or public intermediary and payments using a phone or card, online or offline. This describes a project, not a system already available to everyone.

2. The Commission's package protects cash rather than abolishing it

The official announcement of 28 June 2023 sets out two mutually supportive proposals: one on the legal tender status of euro cash and another on a legal framework for a possible digital euro.

The first aims to preserve widespread cash acceptance and sufficient access to cash. The Commission acknowledges practical problems: ATM and bank-branch closures can make cash harder to obtain. Those problems are not concealed, but the proposed response is to protect access, not withdraw banknotes.

3. Cash-acceptance problems are real, but they are a different question

On its Access to and acceptance of cash page, the ECB says euro banknotes and coins are legal tender in the euro area and businesses are generally obliged to accept them. The page also notes exceptions and separately describes proposed clarification of the rules.

The ECB expresses concern about a growing number of businesses refusing cash. Its position therefore supports neither a claim of a universal cash ban nor the opposite promise that refusal in any particular situation must be illegal.

4. A target date is not a compulsory changeover order

The ECB page checked gives a target of readiness for a possible first issuance during 2029, assuming the necessary EU legislation is adopted in 2026. The Commission explains that the decision on whether and when to issue the digital euro remains with the ECB.

There is no basis for turning that conditional timetable into a date for compulsory cash abolition.

What remains unknown

We did not check compliance by every bank, transport operator or shop. Nor does this fact-check establish the technical security of the future system, the absence of all privacy risks or its final launch conditions. Those conclusions would require final rules and a separate assessment of implementation.

We do not validate the public-support figure quoted in the disputed statement: its exact primary source has not been established here. That number is not needed to check the cash-abolition claim.

Conclusion

The digital euro project does not provide for replacing cash in the way alleged by the statement examined. Official materials describe an additional payment option and separate measures to preserve cash use. Debate about real payment restrictions should not be replaced by an unsupported announcement of a universal banknote ban.

Sources

1. Veridica, account of the claim and link to the original post: https://www.veridica.ro/en/fake-news-disinformation-propaganda/fake-news-the-eu-is-pushing-to-eliminate-cash-and-switch-to-the-digital-euro

2. ECB, Digital euro: https://www.ecb.europa.eu/euro/digital_euro/html/index.en.html

3. ECB, Access to and acceptance of cash: https://www.ecb.europa.eu/euro/cash_strategy/acceptance-cash/html/index.en.html

4. European Commission, Single Currency Package, 28 June 2023: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/api/files/document/print/en/ip_23_3501/IP_23_3501_EN.pdf

Corrections and updates

First version dated 7 September 2026. No corrections yet. Readers can send comments identifying the passage concerned and supporting sources to unity.bridge.sp@gmail.com. Substantive corrections will be recorded here with their date and an explanation of the change.