# ECB Plans 12-Month Digital Euro Pilot for Second Half of 2027 By Riza Dagoc Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/regulation/34079 Published: 2026-10-17T15:27:38.000Z Updated: 2026-10-17T15:27:38.000Z Section: Regulation > EU adoption by year-end of the Regulation on the establishment of the digital euro is a key step toward enabling the pilot. The remarks included no public rollout date. European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said Saturday that the ECB is preparing a 12-month internal pilot of the digital euro for the second half of 2027, with EU legislation a key step toward making it possible. Adoption by year-end of the Regulation on the establishment of the digital euro is key to enabling the pilot. The remarks included no date for a public rollout. The ECB previously selected 36 payment service providers for the [planned 12-month pilot](). The digital euro is intended to add an electronic option for everyday payments alongside cash, with public and private payment services coexisting and competing. Separately, Pontes, the Eurosystem’s distributed-ledger technology solution, began operating Sept. 21. It supports settlement of tokenized assets in central bank money. Euro-area headline inflation was 3.8% in September, with core inflation at 2.5%. Higher energy costs drove most of the headline increase. The energy shock is expected to keep inflation above the ECB’s target into the first half of 2027; inflation is expected to ease after the first quarter and move near target toward year-end. Lagarde described the euro-area economy as resilient. ECB staff projections put growth at 0.9% in 2026, 1.4% in 2027 and 1.5% in 2028. The ECB raised its key interest rates by 25 basis points in both June and September. ## Links in this article - [planned 12-month pilot](https://www.tokenpost.com/news/regulation/26091)