COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union concerning the position of the Council on the adoption of a Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing an exchange, assistance and training programme for the protection of the euro against counterfeiting for the period 2021-2027 (the “Pericles IV programme”)
Date: 2021-04-16
Institutions: Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs, European Commission
Subjects: EU programme, administrative cooperation, counterfeiting, cross-border cooperation, euro, exchange of information, fight against crime, fraud against the EU, prevention of delinquency, vocational training

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 16.4.2021  COM(2021) 179 final 2018/0194 (COD)  COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT  pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union  concerning the position of the Council on the adoption of a Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing an exchange, assistance and training programme for the protection of the euro against counterfeiting for the period 2021-2027 (the “Pericles IV programme”)    
 
2018/0194 (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union 

concerning the 

position of the Council on the adoption of a Proposal for a Regulation of the European 
Parliament and of the Council establishing an exchange, assistance and training 
programme for the protection of the euro against counterfeiting for the period 2021-
2027 (the “Pericles IV programme”) 

1. 

BACKGROUND 

Date of transmission of the proposal to the European Parliament and 
to the Council 
(COM(2018)0369 / 2018/0194 (COD)  

31 May 2018 

Date  of  the  Opinions  of  the  European  Economic  and  Social 
Committee  

19 September 2018 

Date of the position of the European Central Bank 

16 August 2018 

Date of the position of the European Parliament, first reading: 

13 February 2019 

Date of adoption of the position of the Council: 

13 April 2020 

2. 

OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSAL FROM THE COMMISSION 

The  euro  is,  as  the  single  currency  of  the  Union,  a  core  European  interest,  the  integrity  of 
which  needs  to  be  protected  in  all  its  dimensions.  Counterfeiting  of  the  euro  poses  a  true 
problem for the Union and for its institutions. Its threats are still substantial, as demonstrated 
by  the  increasing  availability  of  high  quality  counterfeit  euro's  and  security  features,  like 
holograms,  on  the  internet/darknet  and  the  existence  of  counterfeiting  hotspots,  e.g.  in 
Colombia, Peru and China. Counterfeits harm citizens and businesses that are not reimbursed 
for  counterfeits  even  if  received  in  good  faith.  More  generally,  counterfeiting  of  the  euro 
impacts the legal tender status and trust of citizens and businesses in genuine euro notes and 
coins.  The  Programme  has  the  following  general  objective:  To  prevent  and  combat 
counterfeiting and related fraud, thus enhancing the competitiveness of the Union’s economy 
and securing the sustainability of public finances.  

The  Programme  has  the  following  specific  objective:  To  protect  euro  banknotes  and  coins 
against  counterfeiting  and  related  fraud,  by  supporting  and  supplementing  the  measures 
undertaken by the Member States and assisting the competent national and Union authorities 
in  their  efforts  to  develop  among  themselves  and  with  the  Commission  a  close  and  regular 
cooperation and an exchange of best practice, where appropriate including third countries and 

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international organisations. The legal basis of the Commission’s proposal is Article 133 of the 
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). 

3. 

COMMENTS ON THE POSITION OF THE COUNCIL 

The position of the Council as adopted in the 1st reading fully reflects the agreement reached 
in  the  trilogue  between  the  European  Parliament,  the  Council,  and  the  Commission,  as 
concluded on 29 January 2021. The main points of this agreement include the following: 

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The Programme’s general objective, as laid out in Article 2, will be the following: to 
prevent  and  combat  counterfeiting  and  related  fraud,  preserve  the  integrity  of  the 
euro banknotes and coins, thus strengthening the trust of citizens and business in the 
genuineness  of  these  banknotes  and  coins  and  therefore  enhancing  the  trust  in  the 
Union's economy, while securing the sustainability of public finances. 

The  financial  envelope  for  the  implementation  of  the  Programme,  as  per  Article  3, 
will be EUR 6.193.284. 

When preparing the work programmes pursuant to Article 10, the Commission shall 
take  into  account  existing  and  planned  ECB  and  Europol  activities  against  euro 
counterfeiting and fraud. 

The  exchange  of  information  targeted  at  best  practices  in  preventing  counterfeiting 
and fraud relating to the euro shall be also eligible for financial support 

The European Central Bank is added to the list of institutions to be provided annual 
results on the results of the Programme  
The word independent, as it is formulated in the current Pericles 2020 regulation1, is 
introduced  into  Article  13  which  foresees  carrying  out  an  independent  interim 
evaluation.  

In  the  annex,  the  following  performance  indicators  for  the  evaluation  of  the 
programme were agreed upon by co-legislators: 

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(a) 

(b) 

the number of counterfeit euros detected; 

the number of illegal workshops dismantled;  

(c)  

the number of competent authorities applying to the programme; 

the  satisfaction  rate  of  participants  in  the  actions  financed  by  the 

(d) 
Programme; and 

the  feedback  of  participants  that  have  already  taken  part  in  previous 
(e) 
Pericles  actions  on  the  impact  of  the  Programme  on  their  activities  in 
protecting the euro against counterfeiting. 

The  annex  also  makes  reference  to  the  fact  that  the  data  collection  on  these  key 
performance indicators will be undertaken by the Commission and/or the beneficiaries 
to the programme. 

Recital 6 of the proposal additionally refers to the results of the mid-term evaluation 
of 2017 which was supported by an independent report.  

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, OJ L 103, 5.4.2014, p. 1–9 

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Additional  wording  has  been  added  to  Recitals  3,  4,  4a,  7,  7a,  and  8,  on  common 
challenges to combat organised crime, on the link to the EU objective of improving 
the efficient functioning of the Economic and Monetary Union, on the participation 
of  a  maximum  number  of  competent  authorities,  on  the  international  dimension  of 
the  fight  against  euro  counterfeiting,  and  on  drawing  on  the  experience  of  the 
European Central Bank. 

The  recitals  of  a  horizontal  nature  on  the  financial  rules,  conditionality  regime 
(recital  9)  and  the  roles  of  OLAF  and  EPPO  (recital  14)  have  been  updated  in 
accordance  with  the  inter-institutional  agreement  on  the  Multiannual  Financial 
Framework. 

The Commission supports the agreement reached at the trilogue, which paves the way for a 
swift  adoption  of  the  programme  and  enhances  the  effectiveness  of  the  Pericles  IV 
programme  in  achieving  its  objectives  in  several  respects.  In  this  regard,  it  achieves  the 
objectives of the Commission proposal.  

4. 

CONCLUSION 

The Commission accepts the position taken by the Council, which fully reflects the agreement 
reached by the co-legislators on 29 January 2021. 

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