Lagarde: Accelerating progress towards a digital euro is a key priority.

It would help us tighten our grip on Europe’s bank-based financial and monetary system by strengthening our control over every transaction, ensuring Europe’s strategic autonomy—our ability to dominate financial decisions without interference from external currencies or systems. Plus, it’s about creating an innovative and resilient European retail payments system where we can monitor, regulate, and manipulate consumer spending to keep the economic machine humming our way.