1999X0656 — EN — 26.08.1999 — 000.001 — 1
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aB aC1 GUIDELINEOFTHEEUROPEANCENTRALBANK
of7July1998
oncertainprovisionsregardingeurobanknotes,asamendedon26August1999 c
(ECB/1999/3)
(1999/656/EC)
(OJ L 258, 5.10.1999, p. 32)
Corrected by:
aC1 Corrigendum, OJ L 287, 14.11.2000, p. 68 (1999/656/EC)
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aC1 GUIDELINEOFTHEEUROPEANCENTRALBANK
of7July1998
oncertainprovisionsregardingeurobanknotes,asamendedon26
August1999 c
(ECB/1999/3)
(1999/656/EC)
THE GOVERNING COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
(hereinafter referred to as the ‘Treaty’) and in particular to Article106(1) thereof,
Having regard to Articles 12.1, 14.3 and 16 of the Statute of the Eur-
opean System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank(hereinafter referred to as the ‘Statute’),
Having regard to ECB Decision ECB/1998/6 of 7 July 1998 on the
denominations, specifications, reproduction, exchange and withdrawal
of euro banknotes (
1) as amended by ECB Decision of 26 August 1999
(ECB/1999/2) (2),
(1) Whereas the copyright on the designs of the euro banknoteswas received by the European Central Bank (ECB) from theEuropean Monetary Institute (EMI); whereas such copyrightneeds to be administered and enforced, inter alia , in all partici-
pating Member States according to the individual national legal
systems, and this situation warrants entrusting such functions to
the national central banks (NCBs);
(2) Whereas, in order to enhance the protection of euro banknotesagainst counterfeiting, it appears advisable to establish a Coun-terfeit Analysis Centre (CAC), in which the resources of theNCBs of the participating Member States and of the ECB couldbe pooled, and which would require the establishment of certain
rules within the European System of Central Banks (ESCB);
(3) Whereas, in order to widen the acknowledgement by the gen-
eral public of any decision taken by the ECB to withdraw types
or series of banknotes, in addition to the official publication of
that decision by the ECB in the Official Journal of the Eur-
opean Communities , it is deemed to be appropriate to make
announcements in the national media and for this task to beentrusted to the NCBs;
(4) Whereas, in accordance with Articles 12.1 and 14.3 of the Sta-tute, ECB Guidelines form an integral part of Community law,
HAS ADOPTED THIS GUIDELINE:
Article 1
Enforcementofcopyright
1. The NCBs shall take all necessary and feasible measures,
according to their national legal systems, to ensure that there is no
breach of the copyright of the euro banknote designs held by theECB.
2. Whenever an NCB becomes aware of unauthorised reproduction
of euro banknotes having occurred on its national territory, it shall
take immediate action to ensure that such reproduction ceases and that
any copies produced in this manner are withdrawn, and shall informthe ECB without delay.
(1) OJ L 8, 14.1.1999, p. 36.
(2) See page 29 of this Oficial Journal.
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3. The Executive Board of the ECB may issue instructions on
whether or not the situation requires the initiation of civil or criminalproceedings against the person responsible for the reproduction. For
the conduct of legal proceedings, the ECB shall have recourse to the
NCBs: it shall instruct them accordingly and provide them with thenecessary powers of attorney. All legal costs shall be borne by theECB.
4. The NCBs shall inform the ECB of any specific authorisation to
reproduce the euro banknote designs granted under ECB DecisionECB/1998/6.
Article 2
Exchangeofmutilatedordamagedbanknotes
1. The NCBs shall duly implement ECB Decision ECB/1998/6.2. Whem implementing ECB Decision ECB/1998/6, and subject to
any legal constraints, NCBs shall destroy any mutilated banknotes orthe pieces thereof after a period of six months, unless there are legalgrounds for them to be preserved or returned to the applicant.
3. The NCBs shall appoint a single organ or body to adopt deci-
sions on the exchange of mutilated or damaged banknotes for thecases foreseen in Article 3(1)(b) of ECB Decision ECB/1998/6, andshall inform the ECB accordingly.
Article 3
CounterfeitAnalysisCentreandcounterfeitcurrencydatabase
1. The Counterfeit Analysis Centre (CAC) and the counterfeit cur-
rency database (CCD) of the ESCB will be established by and run
under the aegis of the ECB. The establishment of the CAC is intended
to centralise the technical analysis of and data relating to the counter-feiting of euro banknotes issued by the ECB and the NCBs. All rele-vant technical and statistical data concerning the counterfeiting ofeuro banknotes shall be centrally stored in the CCD.
2. The location of the CAC and the CCD shall be Frankfurt am
Main. The Governing Council shall appoint the head of the CAC,approve its budget and organise its staffing and resources.
3. Subject to legal constraints, the NCBs shall provide the CAC
with originals of new types of counterfeit euro banknotes in their pos-session, for the purposes of technical investigation and central classifi-
cation. The preliminary assessment of whether a specific counterfeit
belongs to a classified type or to a new category shall be carried outby the NCBs.
4. All the technical data within the CCD shall be available to the
ECB and to the NCBs of participating Member States. The CAC shallcooperate with the police forces of the participating Member States,with Europol and with the European Commission, as appropriate,regarding their respective areas of expertise. The individual staff
members of the CAC may appear in judicial proceedings to offer tech-
nical expertise in cases of counterfeiting, if requested. Any contactsestablished by the CAC with individual national authorities shall beeffected together with the relevant NCB.
Article 4
Withdrawalofbanknotes
The NCBs shall announce the withdrawal of a euro banknote type or
series decided by the Governing Council in national newspapers attheir own cost, following any instructions that may be issued by theExecutive Board.
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Article 5
Finalprovisions
This Guideline is addressed to the national central banks of participat-
ing Member States and shall have immediate effect.
This Guideline shall be published in the Official Journal of the Eur-
opean Communities .