Opinion of the European Central Bank of 9 October 2001 at the request of the Council of the European Union on a proposal for a Council Decision establishing a training, exchange and assistance programme for the protection of the euro against counterfeiting (the Pericles programme) (CON/2001/31)
Date: 2001-10-09
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: EU programme, European Central Bank, euro, fraud, industrial counterfeiting

19.10.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 293/3

EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK

of 9 October 2001

at the request of the Council of the European Union on a proposal for a Council Decision
establishing a training, exchange and assistance programme for the protection of the euro
against counterfeiting (the Pericles programme)

(CON/2001/31)

(2001/C 293/03)

1. On 3 July 2001, the European Central Bank (ECB) received a
the European Union (here-
request from the Council of
inafter referred to as the (cid:145)Council(cid:146))
for an opinion on
proposal COM(2001) 248 final of 22 May 2001 for a
Council Decision establishing a training, exchange and
the euro
assistance programme for
against counterfeiting (the Pericles programme) (hereinafter
referred to as the (cid:145)proposal(cid:146)).

the protection of

2. The ECB’s competence to deliver an opinion is based on the
first indent of Article 105(4) of the Treaty establishing the
European Community (hereinafter
the
In accordance with the first sentence of Article
(cid:145)Treaty(cid:146)).
17.5 of the Rules of Procedure of the ECB, this opinion
has been adopted by the Governing Council of the ECB.

referred to as

the

to protect

euro against

3. In general the ECB welcomes this initiative,

the aim of
which is
counterfeiting
through training, exchange and assistance programmes for
selected target groups. Since the ECB is aware of
the
progress and improvements made within the relevant
Council working group in connection with the drafting of
the proposal, this progress has been taken into account in
this opinion.

of

the

Pericles

programme with

4. The ECB would like to emphasise the need to avoid dupli-
cation or overlap with other Community programmes or
with programmes established under Title VI of the Treaty
on European Union (i.e. the third pillar of the European
Union). Furthermore, the ECB considers that proper coor-
dination
existing
Community or EU programmes, as well as with projects
is essential. Certain cooperation
of Europol and the ECB,
and
the
Commission and the ECB have been taken in preparing
initiatives against counterfeiting of
the euro through an
steering group established by these bodies.
informal
Therefore, the ECB submits that initiatives to be funded
under the Pericles programme should also be commented
upon in this steering group. The efficiency of the Pericles
programme should be a priority so that it achieves its aim
of protecting the euro against counterfeiting. In this regard,

coordination measures

Europol,

between

intends to attribute an
the ECB notes that the proposal
appropriate role to Europol and the ECB. In the light of
all the above, the ECB expects to be fully involved in the
preparations of the various activities foreseen in the Pericles
programme.

technical and operational expertise for

5. To achieve the aim of the Pericles programme, the activities
funded under it need to be organised in order to raise the
standard of
the
prevention of counterfeiting of the euro in the Member
States and third countries. This is why a common coor-
dinated
European
Commission and the ECB in establishing the content,
target groups and methodology of the Pericles programme
is important and desirable.

approach

Europol,

between

the

6. The contents of the Pericles programme under the proposal
appear to be very broad. Such an approach might lack
consistency. While the various initiatives may individually
be appropriate, collectively they may fail to raise and set the
standards at Community level. This is particularly true in
view of both the diversity of the target groups addressed by
the Pericles programme and its limited financial
funds
(EUR 4 million over a period of four years). As regards
initiatives concerning technical, scientific and operational
exchange, careful consideration would be required before
allowing ad-hoc initiatives in those areas.

7. As to the use of Article 123(4) of the Treaty as a legal basis,
the ECB would like to point out that this might be insuf-
ficient if the Pericles programme is to continue beyond the
introductory phase of the euro since this Article applies
only to the (cid:145)rapid introduction(cid:146) of the euro. In addition,
the ECB doubts whether
there will be a need for an
the Pericles programme beyond the intro-
extension of
the ECB submits
the euro. Therefore,
ductory phase of
that it should be involved in the evaluation of the relevance,
the efficiency and the effectiveness of the programme in
order to give its opinion to the Council when the Council
decides whether
should be
continued or not.

Pericles programme

the

C 293/4

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

19.10.2001

8. Finally,

the ECB takes note that

the proposal will be
accompanied by a parallel decision extending the proposal
to the Member States not having adopted the euro as their
single currency,
following the precedent set by Council
Regulation (EC) Nos 1338/2001 and 1339/2001 (1). The
appropriateness of this approach will have to be evaluated
by the Council.

9. This opinion shall be published in the Official Journal of the

European Communities.

Done at Frankfurt am Main on 9 October 2001.

The President of the ECB

Willem F. DUISENBERG

(1) OJ L 181, 4.7.2001, pp. 6 and 11 respectively.