What is the DIGITAL EUR editorial policy?
The DIGITAL EUR editorial policy is the set of rules every page follows: research the current search results and primary sources before writing, cite each material claim, separate adopted facts from proposals, declare that we sell reconciliation software, use AI only under human review, correct errors with a dated note, and publish at most two new articles a week.
How do we research a topic before writing?
Research is repeated for every article immediately before drafting; we do not reuse an old competitor list.
- Define the question. We record the reader, the primary query, its variants, the country and language, and the date. We never invent search volumes or rankings; unmeasured numbers are recorded as not measured.
- Review the live search results. We capture the top organic results for the main query and three to five variants, with titles, URLs and page types. Results differ by country and device, so we note where and when we searched, and the limits of our tools. If we could not capture live results, the research record says so.
- Read the strongest pages in full. For at least five results we note what they answer well, what they miss, what is out of date and how they source claims. This tells us what a reader still lacks — the only reason to write a new page.
- Collect primary sources. We aim for two to five per page: the ECB and EU institutions for the digital euro, the European Payments Council for SEPA, official documentation for software and payment-provider claims, and the law or regulator itself for compliance points.
- Check ownership. Each question has one canonical page on this site. If a new article would answer the same question as an existing page, we update that page instead.
Which sources do we trust most?
| Rank | Source type | Examples | How we use it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Law and official decisions | EU regulations, Official Journal, ECB Governing Council decisions | Cited directly for what is binding |
| 2 | Official institutional publications | ECB press releases and FAQs, Council and Parliament press releases, EPC rulebooks | Cited for status, dates and official intentions |
| 3 | Official speeches and interviews | ECB Executive Board speeches | Cited for positions, clearly labelled as statements, not decisions |
| 4 | Expert secondary analysis | Central bank research, law-firm briefings, academic papers | Context and interpretation, never sole support for a fact |
| 5 | News reporting | Wire services, trade press | Tip-offs only; we trace the claim to its primary source before using it |
Social media posts, AI chatbots and anonymous claims are not sources. If a fact is only available from rank 4 or 5, we either attribute it explicitly ("reported by…, not confirmed in a primary source") or leave it out.
How is a claim fact-checked?
Every material claim — a date, a number, a legal status, a product capability — goes into a source ledger with the source URL, the date on the source page, the date we checked it and the exact claim it supports. Before approval the editor re-opens each source, confirms the wording has not changed, and checks that the page labels each point as adopted, proposed, planned or unknown. Product claims are checked against our own code; for example, the reason codes and file limits described on product pages must match the matching engine.
Some problems block publication whatever else is right: a fake or untraceable source, an unverified ECB decision, a claim that we hold a licence or offer a regulated service we do not, a page that duplicates another page's question, or an unnamed author. Each draft is also scored against a quality checklist (original contribution, source accuracy, intent, helpfulness, transparency, technical quality, evidence and claims integrity), and needs at least 90 of 100 to be approved.
How do corrections and updates work?
When we find or are told about an error, we:
- confirm it against the primary source;
- fix the page;
- add a dated correction note on the page stating what was wrong and what changed;
- keep the original publication date and show the update date separately.
Minor typos and formatting are fixed without a note. Substantive changes — a wrong date, figure, status or attribution — always get one. For news we preserve two dates: the event date (when the institution acted) and our publication date. We never change a publication date to make an article look fresher, and we never backdate.
To report an error, contact us using the details in the imprint and include the page address and the source you rely on.
How do we use AI?
AI tools may help us search, summarise long documents, suggest structure and draft text. They never decide what is true, approve, schedule or publish anything. Every AI-assisted draft goes through the same source ledger and human fact-check, and any citation, quote or link an AI tool suggests is treated as unverified until a person has opened the source. We do not use AI to invent quotes, data, customers or reviews, and we do not publish AI-only pages.
What conflicts of interest should readers know about?
DIGITAL EUR sells — or intends to sell — euro invoice-to-bank reconciliation software. That is a commercial interest, and it could tempt a publisher to make reconciliation sound harder than it is or to steer every article towards a product. Our safeguards:
- Research and news pages answer the reader's question first; a product link appears only where it is directly useful, and it is identified as ours.
- Guides such as the SEPA reconciliation guide explain methods that work without our software.
- We do not accept payment for coverage, do not publish sponsored articles and have no affiliation with the ECB or any EU institution.
- If a partnership with a bank or payment provider is ever agreed, we will disclose it on the about page and on every article it affects.
The founder and editor, Daniel Malbašić, also runs a business-setup coordination service; where an article touches company formation in Bulgaria, that link is disclosed. He is not a lawyer, and nothing we publish is legal, tax or investment advice.
How often is content updated?
- New articles: at most two a week, in planned slots on Tuesdays and Fridays at 09:00 Europe/Sofia time (which follows daylight saving time). A slot stays empty rather than being filled with an unready draft.
- Canonical pages: updated promptly when an official source changes a fact, such as a new ECB decision or legislative step. These updates are not counted as new articles.
- News: a dated report appears only for a real, verified event with something to add; the digital euro news digest is updated when official sources publish.
- Scheduled review: core digital euro facts are re-checked at least quarterly, along with our methods.
Frequently asked questions
Who approves articles on DIGITAL EUR?
A named person — currently the founder and editor, Daniel Malbašić — approves every article. AI tools cannot approve or publish.
Do you use AI to write articles?
AI may assist with research and drafting, but every claim is checked against primary sources and every page is approved by a person.
Are you affiliated with the ECB?
No. DIGITAL EUR is independent. We report on the ECB's public documents and link to them.
How do I request a correction?
Use the contact details in the imprint, with the page address and your source. Substantive corrections are noted on the page with a date.
Why only two articles a week?
Because each one needs fresh research, primary sources and a human fact-check. We would rather publish less than publish unverified material.
Sources
- Google Search Central — Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content (accessed 5 November 2026)