Call for expression of interest to provide feedback on the list of standards relevant for the offline digital euro

18 August 2026

With the start of the current phase of the digital euro project in October 2025, focus has moved to the development of the digital euro infrastructure, including its offline functionality. Efforts are centred around preparing for the digital euro pilot planned for the second half of 2027, and advancing market readiness for a potential first issuance.

Regarding the offline digital euro, the ECB, together with its selected technical vendors, is exploring the deployment of offline functionality to different types of secure hardware available in end users’ smartphones, specifically embedded Secure Elements (eSEs) and embedded SIMs (eSIMs). As part of this work, a preliminary set of standards relevant to secure hardware technologies and secure deployment of the offline functionality has been identified.

The ECB is seeking to assess the relevance, maturity and level of industry support for the identified standards in the context of the offline digital euro. Therefore, the ECB is inviting feedback from the following organisations specialising in this area:

• Secure Element/eSIM issuers as original equipment manufacturers (OEMs)
• Mobile network operators (MNOs)/mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs)
• Secure Element/eSIM manufacturers
• Standards development organisations (SDOs)

Participating organisations will receive the preliminary list of identified standards together with an accompanying questionnaire. The questionnaire will seek participants’ views on:

• the maturity of the standards and their future developments;
• the current and anticipated level of industry support;
• any implementation constraints, dependencies or other factors that may aid or hinder deployment and broader market adoption.

Industry expertise in the area of secure hardware and related standards is particularly important for this exercise. Through this call for expression of interest, the ECB is seeking to draw on the knowledge and practical experience of market participants to help ensure that the development of offline digital euro functionality builds on existing industry capabilities, reflects established market practices and remains aligned with future technology roadmaps.

Participation

Feedback may be collected through written responses, virtual technical exchanges or a combination of both, depending on the topic and participants’ availability.

The ECB intends to use the input received to refine and update the preliminary list of identified standards. Within the framework of this exercise, any contributions received from market participants will be treated confidentially and shared exclusively within the Eurosystem. Information provided by one participant will not be disclosed to the other participants. By taking part in this exercise, participants also undertake to treat any materials received from the ECB as confidential, share them among their staff and consultants on a “need to know” basis only, and not disseminate them to third parties without the ECB’s explicit consent. The updated list of standards will not attribute views or details to individual participants or organisations.

Interested participants are invited to submit the application form by 25 September 2026. Following a review of the submissions, selected participants will be contacted with further information.

If you have any questions, please contact OfflineDigitalEuroMarketInput@ecb.europa.eu. For more information on the digital euro project please refer to our website.