COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT on the mid-term evaluation of the Programme for exchange, assistance and training for the protection of the euro against counterfeiting ('Pericles 2020' Programme)
Date: 2017-12-06
Institutions: Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs, European Commission
Subjects: EU financing, EU programme, counterfeiting, cross-border cooperation, euro, fraud, fraud against the EU

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 6.12.2017  COM(2017) 741 final  COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT on the mid-term evaluation of the Programme for exchange, assistance and training for the protection of the euro against counterfeiting ('Pericles 2020' Programme)  {SWD(2017) 443 final} - {SWD(2017) 444 final}  
 
 
1. 

Introduction 

The  Pericles  2020  programme  (hereinafter  'the  Programme')  is  established  by  Regulation 
(EU)  No  331/2014  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  on  11  March  2014 
(hereinafter  'the  Regulation')1  for  the  period  from  1  January  2014  to  31  December  20202. 
Pericles 2020 is an exchange, assistance and training programme aiming at promoting actions 
for the protection of the euro against counterfeiting. The budget for the current programme's 
implementation is approximately EUR 1 million per year. 

The  Pericles  2020  programme  replaced  the  Pericles  programme.  The  first  programme  was 
established by Council Decision 2001/923/EC of 17 December 2001 for a period of four years 
(1  January  2002  to  31  December  2005)  and  it  was  extended  by  Council  Decision 
2006/849/EC of 20 November 2006 until 31 December 2013. 

The general objective of the current Programme is to prevent and combat counterfeiting and 
related  fraud,  thus  enhancing  the  competitiveness  of  the  EU's  economy  and  securing  the 
sustainability of public finances3. More specifically, the Programme protects euro banknotes 
and  coins  against  counterfeiting  and  related  fraud,  by  supporting  and  supplementing  the 
activities  undertaken  by  the  Member  States  and  assisting  the  competent  national  authorities 
(hereinafter 'CNAs') and European authorities in order to develop among themselves and the 
Commission  a  close  and  regular  cooperation  and  an  exchange  of  best  practices,  where 
appropriate including third countries and international organisations4. 

According  to  Article  13  (4)  of  the  Regulation,  an  independent  mid-term  evaluation 
(hereinafter the 'Evaluation') of the Programme shall be presented by the Commission to the 
European Parliament and to the Council by 31 December 2017. The Evaluation was carried 
out by an external contractor using an existing Commission Framework Contract.  An Inter-
Service Steering Group (ISSG) established by DG ECFIN assisted the evaluator ensuring the 
quality control.  

This  Communication  accompanies  a  Staff  Working  Document  (SWD)  and  the  report  of  the 
contractor on the Evaluation.  

The  Evaluation  covered  the  different  type  of  actions  committed  or  implemented  under  the 
Programme in 2014, 2015 and 1st semester of 2016. 

According  to  Article  13  (4)  of  the  Regulation,  the  Evaluation  addressed,  inter  alia,  the 
achievements  of  the  objectives  of  all  actions,  the  relevance,  effectiveness,  efficiency, 
sustainability, added value and coherence taking into consideration all elements necessary to 
support a decision to either renew, modify or suspend the measures/types of actions financed 

1 Regulation (EU) No 331/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2014 establishing 
an  exchange,  assistance  and  training  programme  for  the  protection  of  the  euro  against  counterfeiting  (the 
'Pericles  2020')  and  repealing  Council  Decisions  2001/923/EC,  2001/924/EC,  2006/75/EC,  2006/76/EC, 
2006/849/EC and 2006/850/EC, OJ L 103, 5.4.2014, p. 1.  
2 Council Regulation (EU) 2015/768 of 11 May 2015 extended the application of Regulation (EU) No 331/2014 
to the non-participating Member States.  
3 As referred to in Article 3 of the Regulation.   
4 As referred to in Article 4 of the Regulation.   

2 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        
under  the  Programme.  According  to  the  Evaluation  all  the  findings  converge  towards  an 
unambiguously  positive  overall  assessment.  In  particular,  the  Evaluation  shows  that  the 
Programme  has  performed  very  well  in  respect  of  all  the  above  mentioned  evaluation 
criteria while taking into account some room for improvement.  

2. 

Assessement on  possible renewal, modification or suspension of the Programme 

Continuation of the current Programme 

The  Commission  is  of  the  opinion5  that  the  Programme  should  continue  until  its  natural 
expiry in 2020 based on the following arguments, which are highlighted in the Evaluation: 

  All  available  evidence  suggests  that  the  general  and  specific  objectives  are  relevant 

and will remain so during the Programme’s life; 

  The actions of the Programme were typically implemented, planned and achieved the 
intended  outputs  having  a  direct  tangible  influence  on  euro  protection  operational 
activities;  

  A discontinuation of the Programme would have serious detrimental effects, de facto 
making  it  impossible  to  perform  the  same  type  of  transnational  activities  on  a 
comparable  scale,  as  the  Programme's  added  value  lies  essentially  in  its  ability  to 
support forms of international and transnational cooperation that are beyond the reach 
of  national  authorities.    As  an  example,  all  EU  stakeholders  concur  that  initiatives, 
such as the establishment of a dialogue (however initial and preliminary) with Chinese 
authorities or the setting up of anti-counterfeit units in Latin America, would not have 
been feasible without the support provided by the Programme.  

Continuation of the Programme post 2020 

Based  on  the  assessment  made  in  the  Evaluation,  the  Commission  further  supports6  the 
continuation of the Programme beyond 2020 given its EU added value, its long-term impact 
and sustainability: 

  The  protection  of  the  European  single  currency  as  a  public  good,  used  by  19  EU 
Member  States  and  beyond,  has  a  clear  transnational  dimension.    Therefore  euro 
protection  goes  beyond  the  interest  and  the  responsibility  of  individual  EU  Member 
States  and  must  by  definition  be  ensured  at  EU-level.  The  Programme’s  EU  added 
value  lies  in  its  focus  in  supporting  transnational  and  multidisciplinary  cooperation 
between a restricted group of highly specialised CNAs, such as national central banks, 

5  In  line  with  Article  13  (4)  of  the  Regulation,  the  Evaluation  assessed  all  elements  necessary  to  support  a 
decision to either renew, modify or suspend the measures/types of actions financed under the Programme. 
6  In  line  with  Article  13  (5)  of  the  Regulation,  the  Evaluation  also  assessed  the  long-term  impact  and  the 
sustainability  of  the  effects  of  the  Programme  with  a  view  to  informing  a  decision  on  a  possible  renewal, 
modification or suspension of any subsequent programme. 

3 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        
 
police, judicial authorities and technical laboratories that would otherwise be beyond 
reach of those national authorities; 

  The sustainability of achieved results will depend significantly on the continuation of 
the  Programme  until  its  natural  expiry  and  beyond  2020.  Stakeholders  confirm  that 
they  would  not  have  been  able  to  carry  out  the  implemented  transnational  actions 
without the Programme's support and would not be able to implement similar actions 
in  the  future  should  the  Programme  be  discontinued.  In  addition,  discontinuation 
would  have  an  adverse  impact  on  strengthening  the  institutional  capacity  in  national 
authorities, which constitutes the Programme's 'core business'.   

Continuation of the Programme post 2020 as a standalone programme  

The  Commission  concurs  with  the  assessment  of  the  Evaluation  on  the  continuation  of  the 
Programme as a standalone programme beyond 2020.  

An elimination of Pericles 2020 as a standalone programme or its possible merging with other 
EU  programmes  to  achieve  economies  of  scale  would  entail  a  loss  in  specificity,  and  more 
importantly, a considerable erosion of expertise of the highly effective framework protecting 
the  euro.  Potential  financial  savings  would  be  made  to  the  detriment  of  the  current  level  of 
euro  protection  and  the  ability  of  the  Commission  and  stakeholders  to  swiftly  react  to 
emerging  threats.  On  the  other  hand,  savings  are  anyhow  achieved  through  the  collectively 
organised  actions  under  the  Programme,  in  contrast  with  (potential)  individual  national 
initiatives. 

In addition, the synergy between the management of the Programme on the one hand and, on 
the  other  hand,  the  designing  and  implementation  of  EU  policy  and  legislation  for  the 
protection of the euro (on prevention, enforcement and on cooperation), is optimal since one 
Commission service is in charge of all euro related issues.  

3.  Way forward 

The  Commission  concurs  with  the  assessment  of  the  Evaluation  that  a  limited  number  of 
CNAs apply for funding under the Programme. In particular, Italy, France and Spain are the 
most frequent implementers of the Programme's actions.  

In  that  respect  the  Commission  also  notes  that  Italy,  France  and  Spain,  together  with 
Germany,  account  for  approximately  three-quarters  of  all  counterfeit  euros  detected  in 
circulation.  They  therefore  regard  the  problem  of  euro  counterfeiting  with  greater  concern 
than  other  Member  States.  Applications  for  funding  under  the  Programme  from  CNAs  of 
other Member States are  sometimes  limited due to lack of personnel or lower prioritisation. 
Moreover,  the  Evaluation  noted  that  some  CNAs  are  no  longer  operational  or  are  only 
nominally involved in euro protection activities. 

The Commission has already taken steps to encourage greater CNAs participation through a 
more promotional approach.This has led to a growth in first-time CNAs applicants over the 
past two years with CNAs in Bulgaria, Austria, Portugal and Romania applying for funding 
for the first time. 

4 

 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
The  Commission  shares  the  opinion  of  the  Evaluation  that  the  performance  indicators 
currently  in  use  are  not  fully  aligned  with  the  capacity  building  nature  of  the  Programme's 
activities. Therefore, consideration should be given to replacing or at least complementing the 
current  indicators  with  qualitative  ones  that  can  more  accurately  capture  the  results  of  the 
Programme's actions.  

With  regard  to  the  performance  indicators,  the  Commission  will  assess  the  recommended 
modification  when  preparing  the  Impact  Assessment  for  a  possible  new  generation  of  the 
Programme under the next Multi-Annual Financial Framework.  

5