The IMIA calls for clarity on whether the Proposal implies and guarantees euro cash payments acceptance obligation at point-of-sale. The IMIA is concerned that the obligation for Member States to only intervene with remedial measures when a level of non-acceptance of payments in cash undermines the principle of mandatory acceptance implies that ex ante unilateral exclusions of payments in cash are not per se prohibited, as long as refusals of cash payments are not ‘widespread and structural’.
The IMIA argues that it is crucial that legal tender status of euro cash should not be discriminated but consistent to the legal tender status of the digital euro. The Proposal is notably inconsistent with the proposed legal tender status implications for the digital euro, where, apart for microenterprises and private citizens, unilateral exclusions of payments in the digital euro are outright prohibited across the eurozone, and non-acceptance shall be penalised. Read the position paper.
