Council Regulation (EC) No 1338/2001 of 28 June 2001 laying down measures necessary for the protection of the euro against counterfeiting

Council Regulation (EC) No 1338/2001
of 28 June 2001
laying down measures necessary for the protection of the euro against counterfeiting
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular the third sentence of Article 123(4) thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission(1),
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament(2),
Having regard to the opinion of the European Central Bank(3),
Whereas:
(1) Council Regulation (EC) No 974/98 of 3 May 1998 on the introduction of the euro(4), provides for euro notes to be put into circulation by the European Central Bank (ECB) and by the national central banks (NCB) of the participating Member States and for euro coins to be put into circulation by the participating Member States from 1 January 2002; a system for protecting the euro against counterfeiting must therefore be adopted rapidly so that it can be operational before euro notes and coins are put into circulation.
(2) The arrangements put in place by the Council Act of 26 July 1995 drawing up the Convention on the establishment of a European Police Office (Europol Convention)(5) and by the Council Decision of 29 April 1999 extending Europol's mandate to deal with forgery of money and means of payment(6) are designed to combat counterfeiting in general.
(3) In its framework Decision of 29 May 2000 on increasing protection by criminal penalties and other sanctions against counterfeiting in connection with the introduction of the euro(7), the Council adopted provisions to ensure that the euro is protected in an appropriate way by effective measures under criminal law.
(4) Measures to protect the euro against counterfeiting concern the Community as part of its responsibility in respect of the single currency; the legal protection of the euro cannot be satisfactorily ensured by the individual Member States alone, since euro notes and coins will circulate beyond the territories of the participating Member States. It is therefore necessary to adopt Community legislation defining the measures necessary for euro notes and coins to circulate in the proper conditions to ensure the overall effective and consistent protection of the euro against activities likely to jeopardise its credibility, and thus to adopt appropriate measures so that everything is ready in good time before 1 January 2002.
(5) For the purposes of applying this Regulation it is necessary to define or to take over the existing definitions of certain concepts such as euro counterfeiting, technical and statistical data and the national authorities competent for research inter alia with a view to the gathering and analysis of data concerning counterfeiting, including the central offices provided for in Article 12 of the Geneva Convention.
(6) It should be ensured that the technical and statistical data collected by the competent national authorities regarding counterfeit euro notes and coins and as far as possible unauthorised notes are communicated to the ECB while allowing the competent national authorities and, in accordance with its responsibilities, the Commission, to have access to such data. It is also envisaged that Europol will have access to such data on the basis of an agreement between it and the ECB.
(7) The counterfeiting analysis centre (CAC) established and managed under the auspices of the ECB, in accordance with its Guideline(8), centralises the classification and analysis of technical data relating to counterfeit notes.
(8) The technical scheme for handling counterfeit euro coins which the Council accepted on 28 February 2000 makes reference to the systematic gathering of technical information on euro counterfeiting by the ECB, the establishment at European level of a European Technical and Scientific Centre (ETSC) for the technical analysis and the classification of counterfeit euro coins and at national level of coin national analysis centres (CNAC).
(9) Provision has been made for the ETSC to be established on a temporary basis as a distinct and independent administrative entity within the Paris Mint on the basis of an Exchange of Letters between the President of the Council and the French Minister for Finance of 28 February and 9 June 2000; its tasks must be defined in this Regulation; the future status and the permanent headquarters of the ETSC will be decided by the Council in due course.
(10) It is necessary to provide for counterfeit euro notes to be handed over for identification to the national analysis centres - NAC; counterfeit coins should be handed over to the CNAC.
(11) It is necessary to provide that credit institutions and any other establishments involved in the sorting and distribution to the public of notes and coins as a professional activity, including those whose activity consists in exchanging notes or coins, such as bureaux de change, shall be under an obligation to withdraw from circulation euro notes and coins which they know or have sufficient reason to believe to be counterfeit and hand them over to the competent national authorities. In addition, it is necessary to provide for the Member States to take steps so that sanctions they consider appropriate are imposed in the event of non-compliance by the said establishments with their obligations.
(12) Close and regular cooperation between the competent national authorities, the Commission and the ECB must be organised to ensure effective and consistent protection of the euro, in particular as regards exchanges of information with the exception of personal data, mutual cooperation and assistance between Community and national authorities, scientific support and vocational training. To this end, the Commission will continue, without prejudice to the role attributed to the ECB in protecting the euro against counterfeiting, on a regular basis, in an appropriate advisory committee, with the leading players in the fight against counterfeiting of the euro (including the ECB, the ETSC, Europol and Interpol), the consultations on improving the conditions for the overall protection of the euro on the basis of legislative initiatives to reinforce the prevention and combating of counterfeiting.
(13) To ensure the exchange of full, up-to-date and comparable data, provision should be made for national centralisation of strategic and operational information and for the obligation to report data. To this end, provision should be made for Member States to take the necessary steps to enable central offices to fulfil their missions in accordance with the Geneva Convention in order to ensure the exchange of information between themselves and national Europol units.
(14) The complementary nature of the tasks of the various Community partners, with the assistance Europol is able to provide in accordance with the Council Decision of 29 April 1999, must bring together all the tools required to protect the euro from the damaging consequences arising from illegal counterfeiting activities. Europol fulfils its functions without prejudice to the competence of the European Community; with strict regard to their respective competences, Europol and the European Community should establish forms of cooperation enabling them to perform their respective functions as effectively as possible; to this end, priority should be given to the organisation of close and regular cooperation on the basis of appropriate agreements to be concluded between Europol and the ECB, on the one hand, and between Europol and the Commission on the other hand in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Europol Convention.
(15) Given that the euro will be used by non-member countries as a currency for international transactions, provision should be made for structured cooperation involving all the relevant players in the event of counterfeiting in non-member countries.
(16) The measures provided for by this Regulation do not affect the power of the Member States to apply national criminal law for the purposes of protecting the euro against counterfeiting,