Constitution of Slovakia Amends to Include Cash Rule Due to Fear of Digital Euro

Slovakian Parliament Codifies Right to Use Cash

The Slovakian Parliament voted to amend the country’s constitution on June 15, which included the codification of the right to use cash as a payment method.

The Sme Rodina party, also referred to as the “We Are Family” party, sponsored the new legislation which was purportedly created to guard against the proposed digital euro.

Miloš Svrček, one of the co-authors of the legislation, reportedly informed members of parliament during a discussion that the amendment was essential for safeguarding Slovakia’s financial autonomy, according to a report from the European news agency Euractiv.

In conjunction with a law affirming the right to use cash, Slovakia will also be altering its constitution to strengthen shopkeepers’ ability to deny cash payments for products and services. This move is supposedly meant to protect store owners from robberies and potential contamination, as well as to create an exception to existing cash-acceptance regulations for stores that offer card-only vending machines.

Potential Risks of Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)

The European Union has been considering the possibility of introducing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) or digital euro for a while. Analysts conducting research on behalf of the parliament recently remarked that the issue is a “solution looking for a problem”, yet still recommended that the EU should be prepared to explore the option further in the future.

One of the biggest debates surrounding the possibility of a digital euro is the notion that it would be completely centralized, thus allowing a single government body to manage transactions made with it. This has caused some experts to voice their concerns about the potential risk to individual privacy.

In a video chat with a simulated version of Zelensky, the President of the European Central Bank (ECB) acknowledged that Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC) will be used for control.

The matter of competition must also be taken into account. While Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) could give people who have limited or no access to conventional digital banking services the ability to do so without incurring account fees or transaction costs, they might pose a hazard to businesses and private banks that make money by providing credit options for the unbanked.