[70 Economists Publish Joint Open Letter: Calling for the Digital Euro Project to Prioritize Public Interest] Odaily Planet Daily reports that 70 economists and policy experts have issued an open letter urging Members of the European Parliament to support a digital euro that explicitly serves the public interest. The letter argues that this is crucial for Europe's monetary sovereignty and for ensuring access to central bank money in economies where cash usage is increasingly declining. It also warns that without a strong public option, private stablecoins and foreign payment giants could have a greater impact on Europe's digital payments. Signatories include José Leandro, former EU Executive Board Director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and French economist Thomas Piketty, among others. They describe the proposed central bank digital currency (CBDC) as a public good and advocate for the establishment of a public digital payment system issued by the Eurosystem, offering basic services for free and covering the entire eurozone, to complement rather than replace cash.