Initiative of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Kingdom of Spain, the French Republic, the Italian Republic and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland with a view to adopting a Council Decision on protecting the euro against counterfeiting, by designating Europol as the Central Office for combating euro counterfeiting
Date: 2004-12-22
Institutions: France, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom
Subjects: Europol, accession to an agreement, accession to the European Union, economic offence, fight against crime

C 317/10

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

22.12.2004

II

(Preparatory Acts)

Initiative of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Kingdom of Spain, the French Republic, the
Italian Republic and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland with a view to
adopting a Council Decision on protecting the euro against counterfeiting, by designating Europol
as the Central Office for combating euro counterfeiting

(2004/C 317/06)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Having regard to the Treaty on European Union, and in par-
ticular Article 30(1)(c) and Article 34(2)(c) thereof,

the Federal Republic of
Having regard to the initiative of
Germany,
the
the French Republic,
the Kingdom of Spain,
Italian Republic and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland (1),

Having regard to the Opinion of the European Parliament (2),

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

As the legal currency of 12 Member States, the euro has
increasingly become a global currency and has therefore
become a high-priority target of international counter-
feiting organisations.

The euro has also become the target of third-country
counterfeiters.

A further increase in the number of counterfeit euros,
which would jeopardise the free circulation of euro
banknotes and coins, is to be prevented.

The Convention for the Prevention of Counterfeiting
Currency, agreed on 20 April 1929 in Geneva (herein-
after referred to as ‘Geneva Convention’), should be
applied more effectively under the conditions of Euro-
pean integration.

Third countries need a central contact for information
on counterfeit euros and all information on counterfeit
euros
for
purposes of analysis.

together at Europol

should be brought

the euro against counterfeiting (3),

In view of Council Regulation (EC) No 1338/2001 of 28
June 2001 laying down measures necessary for the
protection of
the
Council considers it appropriate for all Member States to
become contracting parties to the Geneva Convention
and set up central offices within the meaning of
Article 12 of the Convention.

to designate
The Council considers
Europol as the central office for combating euro coun-
terfeiting within the meaning of Article 12 of
the
Geneva Convention,

it appropriate

(1) OJ C …
(2) Opinion delivered on …… (not yet published in the Official

Journal).

(3) OJ L 181, 4.7.2001, p. 6.

Article 1

Finland,

1.
For the Member States which are Contracting Parties to
the Geneva Convention, namely Austria, Belgium, the Czech
Republic, Denmark,
France, Germany, Greece,
Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland,
Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom, Europol
shall, in accordance with the Declaration in the annex hereto
(hereinafter referred to as the ‘Declaration’), act as the central
office for combating euro counterfeiting within the meaning of
the first sentence of Article 12 of the Geneva Convention. For
counterfeiting of all other currencies and for central office func-
tions not delegated to Europol pursuant to the Declaration, the
existing competencies of
the national central offices shall
remain in effect.

2. Member States, which are not yet Contracting Parties to
the Geneva Convention, namely Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia,
Lithuania, Malta, Slovakia and Slovenia, shall accede to the
Geneva Convention. Upon acceding to the Geneva Convention,
they shall,
in accordance with the Declaration, designate
Europol as the central office for combating euro counterfeiting
in accordance with the first sentence of Article 12 of the
Geneva Convention.

Article 2

The governments of

the Member States which are
1.
Contracting Parties to the Geneva Convention shall issue the
Declaration and commission the representative of the Federal
Republic of Germany to forward the Declarations to the Secre-
tary-General of the United Nations.

The governments of the Member States which are not yet
2.
Contracting Parties to the Geneva Convention shall,
in the
event of accession, promptly issue the Declaration and commis-
sion the representative of the Federal Republic of Germany to
forward the Declaration to the Secretary-General of the United
Nations.

22.12.2004

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Official Journal of the European Union

C 317/11

This Decision shall take effect on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Article 3

Done at …

For the Council

The President

C 317/12

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Official Journal of the European Union

22.12.2004

Declaration of … to designate Europol as the central office for combating euro counterfeiting

ANNEX

………, a Member State of the European Union, has given the European Police Office (hereinafter referred to as
‘Europol’) a mandate to combat euro counterfeiting.

In order for the Geneva Convention of 1929 to function more effectively, ……… shall in future fulfil its obligations as
follows:

1. With regard to euro counterfeiting, Europol shall perform — in the framework of its objective according to the
Europol Convention (1) — the following central office functions within the meaning of Articles 12 to 15 of the
Geneva Convention of 1929.

1.1. Europol shall centralise and process, in accordance with the Europol Convention, all information of a nature to
facilitate the investigation, prevention and combating of euro counterfeiting and shall forward this information
without delay to the national central offices of the EU Member States.

1.2. In accordance with the Europol Convention, in particular in accordance with its Article 18 thereof and the relevant
Council Acts, (2) Europol shall correspond directly with the central offices of third countries to fulfil the tasks set
down in points 1.3, 1.4 and 1.5 of this Declaration.

1.3. Europol shall, insofar as it considers it expedient, forward to the central offices of third countries a set of cancelled

specimens of actual euros.

1.4. Europol shall regularly notify the central offices of third countries, giving all necessary particulars, of new currency

issues and the withdrawal of currency from circulation.

1.5. Except in cases of purely local interest, Europol shall, insofar as it considers it expedient, notify the central offices

of third countries of:

— any discovery of counterfeit or falsified euro currency. Notification of the counterfeit or falsification shall be
accompanied by a technical description of the counterfeit, to be provided solely by the institution whose notes
have been counterfeited. A photographic reproduction or, if possible, a specimen counterfeited note should be
transmitted. In urgent cases, a notification and a brief description made by the police authorities may be
discreetly communicated to the central offices interested, without prejudice to the notification and technical
description mentioned above;

— details of discoveries of counterfeiting, stating whether it has been possible to seize all the counterfeit currency

put into circulation.

1.6. As central office for the Member States, Europol shall participate in conferences dealing with euro counterfeiting

within the meaning of Article 15 of the Geneva Convention.

1.7. Where Europol is unable to carry out the tasks specified in points 1.1. to 1.6. in accordance with the Europol

Convention, the national central offices of the Member States shall retain competence.

2. With regard to the counterfeiting of all other currencies and for central office functions not delegated to Europol in

accordance with point 1, the existing competencies of the national central offices shall remain in effect.

Name of Representative ………, this … day of …….

(1) OJ C 316, 27.11.1995, p. 1.
(2) Council Act of 12 March 1999 adopting the rules governing the transmission of personal data by Europol to third States and third
bodies (OJ C 88, 30.3.1999, p. 1) and Council Act of 28 February 2002 amending the Council Act of 12 March 1999 adopting the
rules governing the transmission of personal data by Europol to third States and third bodies (OJ C 76, 27.3.2002, p. 1).