Call for Abstracts – Conference: The Digital Euro – Which Ways Forward?

CfA for the conference

18–19 March 2026

Goethe-Universität Frankfurt a.M.

Digital central bank currencies are the subject of heated debate among the general public and in academia – and this also applies to the possible introduction of a digital euro. Although the potential introduction of a digital functional equivalent to cash has far-reaching social consequences, the current debate is dominated by technological and, in a narrower sense, economic aspects. The conference aims to counterbalance this by focusing on issues such as access to financial infrastructures, sovereignty over personal data and the monetary sovereignty of currency areas. It marks the conclusion of the work of the Zevedi project group ‘The Normative Foundations of the Digital Euro (DINO)’ and brings together researchers from the disciplines of economics, law, sociology and business informatics. The keynote speeches at the conference will be given by Prof. Dr Peter Bofinger (Würzburg) and Dr Carola Westermeier (MPI for Social Research, Cologne).

However, the conference is not purely academic in nature. Practitioners, policy makers and representatives of civil society will also be represented. For the European Central Bank, the head of the project, Evelien Witlox, will take part in the event.

We welcome meaningful abstracts for presentations in German or English from young researchers who are dealing (in the broadest sense) with normative issues of digital central bank currencies and/or the digital euro. The presentations should focus not on technical (individual) aspects of digital central bank currencies, but on questions concerning the desirable design of digital central bank currencies/the digital euro. The presentations may address these questions from an intra-disciplinary or an inter- or transdisciplinary perspective.

Possible topics for presentations could include:

• This side and the other side of the Atlantic: different challenges and responses to the digitalisation of payment transactions
• Geopolitical dimensions of digital central bank currencies
• Possible implications of stablecoin-friendly regulation in the USA
• Legitimacy strategies for the introduction of digital central bank money: an international comparison
• Digital euro ecosystem: stakeholders and balancing the interests of private and public actors

Following the conference, the presentations will be published in a special issue of a journal.

Anonymised abstracts (max. 500 words) can be sent to Dr. Guadelupe Moreno (moreno@em.uni-frankfurt.de) until 30 October 2025. Decisions on the acceptance of abstracts will be made after the application deadline.

Successful applicants will be notified by the end of November 2025.

If you have any questions about this call for abstracts, please do not hesitate to contact the two spokespersons for the project group – Prof. Dr. Barbara Brandl (brandl@soz.uni-frankfurt.de) and Prof. Dr. Andreas Kerkemeyer (andreas.kerkemeyer@tu.darmstadt.de).

to the CfA