. ' 
COOPERATION AGREEMENT 
between
THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 
andHAPOAHA 6AHKA 
HA PEnY6JllllKA CEBEPHA MAKE,QOHIIIJA
.�AN� POPULLORE 
E REPUBUKES SE MAQEDONISE
// VERIUT 
6p./Nr. _/r/ -2 '1252_ 
5 CXYo'3e:I< · 20£roA,/viti
CKOnJE / SHKUP 
THE NATIONAL BANK OF THE REPUBLIC OF NORTH MACEDONIA 

PREAMBLE 
THIS COOPERATION AGREEMENT (hereinafter "the Agreement") is concluded 
BETWEEN 
The European Central Bank, having its seat at Sonnemannstrasse 20, 60314 Frankfurt am Main, 
Germany 
and 
The National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia (NBRNM), having its seat at Blvd Kuzman 
Josifovski -Pitu 1, 1 000, Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia. 
Referred to collectively as the "Parties" or individually as a "Party", 
Recalling that the European Central Bank has the exclusive right to authorise the issue of banknotes 
within those Member States of the European Union whose currency is the euro and that this exclusive 
right includes the responsibility for the protection of the euro against counterfeiting, 
Acknowledging that the European Central Bank has an active role in the prevention and detection of the 
counterfeiting of the euro; that Guideline ECB/1999/3 on certain provisions regarding euro banknotes, as 
amended on 26 August 19991, established the Counterfeit Analysis Centre ("CAC") within the European 
Central Bank, in order to centralise the technical analysis of counterfeit euro banknotes and data relating 
to the counterfeiting of the euro; and that Council Regulation (EC) No 1338/2001 of 28 June 2001 laying 
down measures necessary for the protection of the euro against counterfeiting2· in particular Article 3 
thereof, provides that the European Central Bank shall gather and store technical and statistical data 
relating to counterfeit euro banknotes discovered in non-member countries, 
1 
2 OJ L 258, 5.10.1999, p. 32.
OJ L 181, 4.7.2001, p. 6.
2 
Noting that the National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia is competent, in accordance with the 
national legislation applicable to it3 to investigate and analyse all counterfeit banknotes seized or 
recovered by the banks and the police irrespective of whether they are of domestic or foreign currency, 
and to store all such counterfeits, and 
Sharing a joint determination to combat the threats arising from the counterfeiting of the euro in general, 
and wanting to co-ordinate their efforts within the framework of the missions assigned to them, and to 
cooperate. within their respective competencies, in particular in the field of detection of counterfeit euro 
banknotes, 
HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS: 
Article 1 
Purpose 
1.The purpose of this Agreement is to establish a framework for cooperation between the Parties,
within their respective competences and subject to their respective rules and regulations. thus
facilitating the prevention and detection of counterfeiting of euro banknotes in the Republic of North
Macedonia.
2.This Agreement is without prejudice to the rights and obligations established in the agreements and
other arrangements between the National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia and Interpol,
as well as to those established in the Agreements and other arrangements between the European
Central Bank and Interpol or Europol respectively.
Miele 2 
Exchange of information 
Subject to the Parties' internal rules and regulations and to such arrangements as may be necessary for 
the safeguarding of confidential information, exchange of information and documents concerning matters 
of common interest as indicated in Article 1 ( 1 ), shall take place between the Parties for the purpose of 
and in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement, and shall not include personal data. 
3 In particular, Article 29 of the Law on the National Bank of the Republic of Macedonia (published in the Official 
Gazette No. 158/2010, 64/2012; 123/2012; 43/2014; 153/2015; 6/2016; 83/2018) and Decision on establishing 
the procedure for detection and withdrawa l of counterfeit money (published in the Official Gazette No. 
42/04.04.20 11 ). 
3 
 
Article 3 
Obligations of the European Central Bank 
1.The European Central Bank shall provide the National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia
with information regarding the technical specifications and technical features of legal tender euro
banknotes upon the request of the National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia.
2.The European Central Bank shall provide the National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia
with sufficient technical data relating to counterfeit euro banknotes that have been classified as
common classes so as to enable the National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia to identify
them.
3.To the extent possible the European Central Bank shall stand ready to consult with the National
Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia in order to facilitate the proper implementation of this
Agreement.
Article 4 
Obligations of the National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia 
1.Whenever the National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia receives information concerning a
new type of euro banknote counterfeit, which does not yet correspond to any of the common
classes of which the European Central Bank has informed it, the National Bank of the Republic of
North Macedonia shall promptly send samples of any such new type of euro banknote counterfeit
received by it or otherwise in its possession to the European Central Bank. The number of samples
required shall be agreed on a case by case basis by the Parties.
2.The samples shall be accompanied by a completed form "Reported Euro Counterfeits", which shall
include, if available, the following information:
(a)the total number of the counterfeits that have been seized or recovered;
(b)the date and location of the seizures or recoveries; and,
(c)an assessment of whether or not the source of the counterfeits has been identified by the
competent authority.
The template form "Reported Euro Counterfeits" is laid down in the Annex. 
If for any reason it is not possible for the National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia to send 
the European Central Bank any of the samples referred to in paragraph 1, it shall instead send 
scanned images of such samples as laid down in the Annex, together with a completed form 
"Reported Euro Counterfeits". 
3.In addition to submitting either a sample, or scanned images of every new type of suspected
counterfeit euro banknotes to the European Central Bank the National Bank of the Republic of
North Macedonia shall, on a monthly basis, send to the European Central Bank statistical reports
4 
on all euro counterfeits discovered in a particular month in the Republic of North Macedonia. The 
European Central bank shall provide the National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia with a 
template for this statistical information. 
4.Within 6 months after the date when this Agreement enters into force the National Bank of the
Republic of North Macedonia shall provide the European Central Bank with a statistical overview of
all counterfeit euro banknotes that have been found in Republic of North Macedonia prior to this
date. The template mentioned in paragraph 3 of this Article shall be used for this report.
5.The National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia shall take all necessary and feasible
measures, according to its national legal system, to ensure that there is no breach of the copyright
of the euro banknote designs held by the European Central Bank.
Article 5 
Major incidents 
The European Central Bank and the National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia shall inform each 
other immediately of major counterfeit incidents concerning euro banknotes. 
Article 6 
Means of communication between Parties 
All information exchanged between the European Central Bank and the National Bank of the Republic of 
North Macedonia shall be exclusively communicated by means of secure communication. The Parties 
shall agree the means of secure communication separately. All files sent electronically shall be encrypted. 
Article 7 
Contact persons 
The Parties shall designate the contact persons for the purposes of this Agreement separately by an 
exchange of letters between the President of the European Central Bank and the Governor of the 
National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia. 
Article 8 
Security and confidentiality 
1.The Parties shall ensure that all information received on the basis of this Agreement, as well as the
processing of such information, is always subject to security and confidentiality standards, which
are at least equivalent to the standards applied by the originating Party to such information. All
such information shall receive a level of protection, which is at least equivalent to the level of
protection offered by the measures applied to that information by the originating Party.
5 
•• 
... 
 
2.The Parties shall exchange information on their respective security and confidentiality standards as
applied to counterfeit banknotes.
3.Either Party may, for justified reasons, specify restrictions on the usage of information supplied on
the basis of this Agreement. The receiving Party shall comply with any such restrictions.
4.The Parties' obligation to ensure that all information received on the basis of this Agreement is
always subject to the security and confidentiality standards defined in paragraph 1 shall continue
even after this Agreement has terminated.
Article 9 
Liability 
The Party causing damage to the other Party or to an individual as a result of unauthorised or incorrect 
information processing under this Agreement shall be liable for such damage. 
Article 10 
Failure to comply and settlement of disputes . , 
1.Each Party may cease to provide information in accordance with this Agreement to the other Party
in the event of the latter's breach of this Agreement.
2.In case of any dispute between the Parties arising out of or in connection with this Agreement, the
Parties shall endeavour to resolve such dispute amicably in private.
Article 11 
Final provisions 
1. Either Party may terminate this Agreement with 12 months' prior notice.
2.This Agreement shall enter into force on the date of signature by both Parties.
3.This Agreement shall be published on the European Central Bank's website.
Done in four copies in the English language. 
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned, being fully authorised thereto, have on behalf of the Parties 
signed the present Agreement. 
6 
At Frankfurt am Main 
On behalf of the European Central Bank 
Cl�� 
Christine Lagarde 
ECB President 
Date �. J.c. ZOW 
7  
At Skopje 
On behalf of the National Bank of 
North Macedonia 
Date ....
... 
.. 
ANNEX 
TRANSMISSION OF IMAGES OF COUNTERFEIT EURO BANKNOTES 
For each case of counterfeit euro banknotes sent electronically, there should be: 
1.The entire front and reverse of the banknote, shown flat and undistorted, scanned as a 24-bitmap
image at a resolution 100 dots per inch (dpi) for the screen image or 400 dots per inch (dpi) for the
printed image.
2.Any regions of special interest (e.g. microtext) should also be scanned as a 24-bitmap image at a
resolution of 100 dots per inch ( dpi) for the screen image or 400 dots per inch ( dpi) for the printed
image.
TEMPLATE FORM REPORTED EURO COUNTERFEITS 
North 
Macedonia_CMS uplo;