Recommendation of the European Central Bank of 7 July 1998 regarding the adoption of certain measures to enhance the legal protection of euro banknotes and coins (ECB/1998/7)
Date: 1998-07-07
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: European Central Bank, euro, paper money, right to justice

15.1.1999

EN

Official  Journal  of  the  European  Communities

C  11/13

EUROPEAN  CENTRAL  BANK

RECOMMENDATION  OF  THE  EUROPEAN  CENTRAL  BANK

of  7  July  1998

regarding  the  adoption  of  certain  measures  to  enhance  the  legal  protection  of  euro  banknotes
and  coins

(ECB/1998/7)

(1999/C  11/08)

THE  GOVERNING  COUNCIL  OF  THE  EUROPEAN
CENTRAL  BANK,

Having  regard  to  the  Statute  of  the  European  System  of
Central  Banks  and  of  the  European  Central  Bank  (here(cid:220)
inafter  referred  to  as  the  "Statute’)  and  in  particular  to
Article  34(1)  thereof,

Whereas  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  974/98  of  3  May
1998  on  the  introduction  of  the  euro(cid:216)(˛),  provides  for  a
three(cid:220)year  transitional  period  between  the  date  of  intro(cid:220)
duction  of  the  euro  and  the  issuance  by  the  European
System  of  Central  Banks  (hereinafter  referred  to  as  the
"ESCB’)  and  the  Member  States  of  euro  banknotes  and
coins;

Whereas  some  institutions  and  economic  agents  have
issued  monetary  tokens  and  banknotes  denominated  in
euro  which  are  without  legal  tender  status;  whereas  such
phenomena  are  likely  to  increase  as  the  date  for  putting
euro  banknotes  and  coins  into  circulation  approaches,  in
some  cases  with  the  bona  fide  purpose  of  familiarising
the  public  with  the  new  single  currency;

Whereas  the  issuance  of  non(cid:220)legal  tender  euro  banknotes
or  coins,  even  if  effected  for  the  purpose  of  educating
the  population 
forthcoming
changeover  to  the  euro,  may  give  rise  to  bad  practice,
fraud  and  errors,  affecting  in  particular  the  elderly  or  the
poorly  informed;

advance  of 

the 

in 

Whereas  most  Member  States  have  legislation  in  place
which  stipulates  that  the  issuance  of  monetary  tokens
and  banknotes  denominated  in  the  national  currency  unit
is 
the  national  monetary  authorities;
whereas  Article  105a(1)  of  the  Treaty  establishing  the
European  Community  (hereinafter  referred  to  as  the
"Treaty’)  states  that:  "The  ECB  shall  have  the  exclusive

restricted 

to 

(˛)(cid:217)OJ  L  139,  11.5.1998,  p.  1.

right  to  authorise  the  issuance  of  banknotes  within  the
Community.  The  ECB  and  the  national  central  banks
may  issue  such  banknotes.  The  banknotes  issued  by  the
ECB  and  the  national  central  banks  shall  be  the  only
such  banknotes  to  have  the  status  of  legal  tender  within
the  Community’;  whereas  the  legal  system  of  Member
States  should  ensure  that  the  unauthorised  issuance  of
banknotes  cannot  take  place;

tender  banknotes  and  coins  are 

Whereas,  for  the  purposes  of  this  recommendation,
to  be
non(cid:220)legal 
understood  as  those  banknotes  and  tokens  which  are
either  loosely  based  on  the  designs  for  legal  tender  euro
banknotes  or  coins,  or  imitate  real  banknotes  or  coins
and  could  be  mistaken  for  real  banknotes  or  coins,  and
are  issued  with  the  purpose  of  being  used  as  means  of
payment  within  a  limited  area,  for  a  limited  period  of
time  or  for  a  limited  number  of  goods  or  services,  or
which  could  otherwise  create  confusion  in  the  field  of
payments  since  they  are  widely  distributed;

Whereas  the  changeover  to  the  euro  means,  in  the  field
of  banknotes,  that  a  complete  new  set  of  banknote
designs  and  denominations  will  have  to  be  put  in  circu(cid:220)
lation  and  shall  have 
tender  status  within  a
legal 
geographical  area  which  transcends  the  current  territorial
limits  within  which  national  banknotes  are  used;  whereas
the  novelty  of  the  designs  means  that  the  general  public
will  not  initially  be  familiar  with  the  new  denominations
and  designs  of  the  euro  banknotes  and  coins;  whereas
the  legal  regime  applying  to  counterfeiting  within  this
extended  area  of  banknote  circulation  differs  from  one
Member  State  to  another;  whereas  euro  banknotes  will
also  be  held  as  reserves  outside 
the  geographical
boundaries  of  the  Monetary  Union,  thus  leading  to  a
wider  geographical  scope  of  circulation;  whereas  this
combination  of  factors  might  contribute  to  an  increase  in
the  risk  of  banknote  counterfeiting  in  the  periods  prior
to  and  following  the  date  of 
issuance  of  the  euro
banknotes;

Whereas  the  risks  of  counterfeiting  are  likely  to  increase
given  the  technological  means  currently  available  for
banknote  reproduction;  whereas  technical  devices  are

C  11/14

EN

Official  Journal  of  the  European  Communities

15.1.1999

now  available  to  detect  banknotes  in  colour  copying  and
scanning  machinery  and  to  impede  their  reproduction;
whereas  euro  banknotes  will  be  equipped  with  the  tech(cid:220)
nological  features  necessary  to  ensure  the  effectiveness  of
such  technical  devices;  whereas  legal  means  ought  to  be
considered  to  impose  such  technical  devices  on  colour
copiers  and  scanning  machinery  within  the  European
Community  in  order  to  protect  economic  agents  from
the  increased  risks  of  banknote  counterfeiting;  whereas
the  Council  resolution  of  18  December  1997  which  lays
down  the  priorities  for  cooperation  in  the  field  of  justice
and  home  affairs  for  the  period  from  1  January  1998  to
the  date  of  entry 
the  Treaty  of
Amsterdam(cid:216)(˛)  gave  priority  to  combating  the  use  of  new
technology  for  criminal  purposes  and  to  using  such  tech(cid:220)
nology  to  combat  crime;

force  of 

into 

should  ideally  be  fully  established  before  euro  banknotes
and  coins  are  introduced,

HAS  ADOPTED  THIS  RECOMMENDATION:

1.(cid:217)Member  States  and  Community 

institutions  should
not  promote  but  rather  discourage  and  strictly  control
the  issuance,  holding  and  use  of  non(cid:220)legal  tender  euro
banknotes  and  coins,  in  particular  prior  to  1  January
2002.

Whereas  the  efforts  to  prevent  counterfeiting  concern
both  the  Community,  by  virtue  of  its  competence  in
respect  of  the  single  currency,  and  the  Member  States,
by  virtue  of  their  competence  in  the  sphere  of  criminal
law  and  policies  to  combat  organised  crime;

Whereas,  however,  the  ESCB  has  a  vested  interest  in
taking  all  the  steps  necessary  to  ensure  a  smooth  tran(cid:220)
sition  to  the  full 
introduction  of  the  euro  and  the
acceptance  of  euro  banknotes  by  the  public;  whereas
such  an  interest  requires  formulating  a  recommendation
which  lays  down  certain  policy  objectives,  whilst  leaving
the  competent  authorities  of  the  European  Union  and  of
the  Member  States  to  consider  such  objectives  and  to
adopt  the  appropriate  measures  for  their  implementation;

Whereas  the  Council  of  the  European  Union  and  the
Member  States  should  consider  the  forthcoming  issuance
of  single  currency  banknotes  as  an  event  that  ought  to
lead  to  a  review  of  the  current  policies  adopted  by
Member  States  to  combat  counterfeiting;

serious 

Whereas  Article  K.1  of  the  Treaty  on  European  Union
provides  for  the  cooperation  of  police  forces  to  prevent
and  combat 
international  crime;
forms  of 
whereas  Article  2(2)  of  the  Europol  Convention  of  26
July  1995(cid:216)(ˇ)  requires  a  unanimous  decision  by  the
Council  of  the  European  Union  to  instruct  the  European
Police  Office  to  deal  with  the  forgery  of  money  and
means  of  payment;  whereas  the  European  Commission
could  also  be  entrusted  with  such  cooperation  between
national  police  forces  in  the  field  of  the  forgery  of
money  and  means  of  payment;  whereas  such  cooperation

(˛)(cid:217)OJ  C  11,  15.1.1998,  p.  1.
(ˇ)(cid:217)OJ  C  316,  27.11.1995,  p.  2.

of 

on 

the 

issuance 

2.(cid:217)Member  States  should  avail  themselves  of  the  legal
means  necessary  to  ensure  due  compliance  with  the
prohibition 
unauthorised
banknotes,  as  laid  down  in  Article  105a(1)  of  the
legislation  protecting  the
Treaty.  Existing  national 
exclusive  right  of  national  central  banks  to 
issue
national  banknotes 
should,  where  necessary,  be
adapted  before  2002  to  cover  the  exclusive  right
conferred  on  the  ECB  by  the  Treaty  with  regard  to
banknotes.

3.(cid:217)Member  States  should  ensure  that  banknote  designs

may  legally  benefit  from  copyright  protection.

4.(cid:217)The  Council  of  the  European  Union,  the  European
Commission  and  the  Member  States  should  consider  a
review  of  current  policies  to  combat  counterfeiting,
with  the  aim  of  establishing  such  a  campaign  as  a
matter  of  common  interest,  evaluating  the  need  for
harmonisation  of  penal  laws  in  the  field  of  counter(cid:220)
feiting,  achieving  increased  institutional,  judicial  and
police  cooperation,  drawing  up  new  conventions  to
this  end,  seeking  to  strengthen  coordination  with
non(cid:220)European  Union  governments  and  organisations,
analysing  the  new  technological  means  available  for
counterfeiting  banknotes 
carrying  out  or
considering  any  other  possible  measures.

and 

5.(cid:217)Consideration  should  be  given  to  organising  coop(cid:220)
eration  between  national  police  forces  in  the  field  of
the  forgery  of  money  and  means  of  payment,  either
through  the  European  Police  Office  (Europol)  or  the
European  Commission,  and  to  involving  the  ECB  in
such  tasks.

6.(cid:217)The  European  Commission  and  the  Member  States
legal  measures

consider  proposing  any 

should 

15.1.1999

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Official  Journal  of  the  European  Communities

C  11/15

necessary  to  ensure  that  counterfeit  euro  banknotes
are  retained,  when  detected,  by  credit  institutions  and
other  entities  receiving  and  handling  cash,  and
subsequently  handed  over  to  the  appropriate 
law
enforcement  authorities.

7.(cid:217)Community  legislation  should  be  considered  which
would  make  compulsory  the  installation  of  technical
devices  in  colour  copiers  and  machinery  capable  of
graphic  reproduction  -  whether  manufactured  in  the
Community  or  imported  from  outside  -  that  would
permit  the  identification  of  banknotes  and  impede
their  reproduction.

In  order  to  ensure  that  a  similar  regime  is  followed  in
other  countries, 
is  recommended  that  an  inter(cid:220)
national  convention  be  prepared  in  parallel.

it 

8.(cid:217)This  recommendation  is  addressed  to  the  Council  of
the  European  Union,  the  European  Parliament,  the
European  Commission  and  the  Member  States.

9.(cid:217)This  recommendation  will  be  published  in  the  Official

Journal  of  the  European  Communities.

Done  at  Frankfurt  am  Main,  7  July  1998.

The  President  of  the  ECB

Willem  F.  DUISENBERG