EU Court deems cash a human right

• The EU Court has insisted that people should have the right to pay in euro banknotes.
• The advocate general of the EU Court stated that cash is a symbol of individual liberty within the EU.

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has declared that a person’s right to pay for services in euro banknotes should be defended with minimal objections to the act.

Giovanni Pitruzella, the advocate general of CJEU, supported the perception of cash as a symbol of individual liberty within the EU. This dialogue comes after a company declined payments in cash, a subject that has been debated all over the EU and elsewhere.

Pitruzella put forward that public authorities must accept euro banknotes as far as they fulfil regulatory payment commitments. He adds that exceptions should not be founded on managerial viability or cost savings. Pitruzella’s stance was backed by two people who received late payment fees for not paying a German broadcasting firm through its selected means of payment.

Supporters of the EU Court’s decision

The discussion as to whether cash should coincide or be replaced with digital currencies has amplified. In harmony with the EU Court, an online journalist asserted that cash is the only confidential payment where no other person is involved. Cash cannot be electronically traced, and it does not need an infrastructure to deal with the payment, as opposed to digital payments. Cash is, therefore, a monetary decision that should not be sanctioned by a public or private official.

Pitruzella and the web journalist’s take on cash echoes that of the 19^th-century German philosopher Georg Simmel, who contended that money emancipates a person. He explained that it allows them to define themselves through the financial choices they make.

In like manner, Richard Buckle, a blogger on atmmarketparketplace.com, stated in an article in June that cash is an economic tool that grants people independence to live as they please and it provides the reassurance that is lacking in other monetary implements.