Regulation (EU) No 331/2014 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

CHAPTER I GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1 Subject matter

The multiannual action programme to promote actions for the protection and safeguarding of the euro against counterfeiting and related fraud ‘Pericles 2020’ (‘the Programme’) is hereby established for the period from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2020.

Article 2 Added value

The Programme shall actively encourage and entail an increase in transnational cooperation for the protection of the euro inside and outside the Union and with the Union’s trading partners, and with attention also being paid to those Member States or third countries that have the highest rates of euro counterfeiting, as shown by the relevant reports issued by the competent authorities. Such cooperation shall contribute to the greater effectiveness of the protection of the euro through the exchanging of best practice, common standards and joint specialised training.

Article 3 General objective

The general objective of the Programme shall be to prevent and combat counterfeiting and related fraud, thus enhancing the competitiveness of the Union’s economy and securing the sustainability of public finances.

Article 4 Specific objective

The specific objective of the Programme shall be 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 international organisations.

That objective shall be measured, inter alia, through the effectiveness of action by financial, technical, law-enforcement and judicial authorities, as measured through the number of counterfeits detected, illegal workshops dismantled, individuals arrested and penalties imposed.

Article 5 Bodies eligible for funding

Bodies eligible for funding under the Programme shall be the competent national authorities as defined in point (b) of Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 1338/2001.

Article 6 Participation in the Programme

1. Participating countries shall be the Member States having adopted the euro as their single currency.

2. The proposals presented by the Member States referred to in paragraph 1 may include participants from third countries, if that is important for the fulfilment of the general and specific objectives provided for in Articles 3 and 4 respectively.

Article 7 Target groups and joint actions

1. The Programme shall target the participation of the following groups:

(a) staff of agencies engaged in detecting and combating counterfeiting, in particular police forces and financial administrations, depending on their specific functions at national level;

(b) intelligence personnel;

(c) representatives of the national central banks, the mints, commercial banks and other financial intermediaries, in particular as regards the obligations of financial institutions;

(d) judicial officers, specialist lawyers and members of the judiciary in this field;

(e) any other group of specialists concerned, such as chambers of commerce and industry or comparable structures capable of providing access to small and medium-sized enterprises, retailers and cash-in-transit companies.

2. Actions under the Programme may be organised jointly by the Commission and other partners having relevant expertise, such as:

(a) the national central banks and the European Central Bank (ECB);

(b) the National Analysis Centres (NACs) and the Coin National Analysis Centres (CNACs);

(c) the European Technical and Scientific Centre (ETSC) and the mints;

(d) Europol, Eurojust and Interpol;

(e) the national central anti-counterfeiting offices provided for in Article 12 of the International Convention for the Suppression of Counterfeiting Currency signed at Geneva on 20 April 1929(1) and other agencies specialising in prevention, detection and law-enforcement in connection with counterfeiting;

(f) specialist bodies concerned in the field of duplication and certification technologies, printers and engravers;

(g) bodies other than those referred to in points (a) to (f) offering specific expertise, including, where appropriate, such bodies from third countries and in particular from acceding States and candidate countries; and

(h) private entities that have developed and provided evidence of technical knowledge and teams specialising in detecting counterfeit banknotes and coins.

Article 8 Eligible actions

1. The Programme shall take into account the transnational and multidisciplinary aspects of the fight against counterfeiting and shall promote best practice adapted to the national specificities of each Member State.

2. The Programme shall provide, under the conditions set out in the annual work programmes referred to in Article 11, financial support for the following actions:

(a) exchange and dissemination of information, in particular through organising workshops, meetings and seminars, including training, targeted placements and exchanges of staff of competent national authorities and other similar actions. The exchange of information shall, inter alia, be targeted at:

• (a) methodologies for monitoring and analysing the economic and financial impact of counterfeiting;

• operation of databases and early warning systems;

• use of detection tools with computer back-up;

• enquiry and investigation methods;

• scientific assistance, in particular scientific databases and technology watch/monitoring of new developments;

• protection of the euro outside the Union;

• research actions;

• provision of specific operational expertise;

(b) technical, scientific and operational assistance, as appears necessary as part of the Programme including in particular:

• (b) any appropriate measure which establishes teaching resources at Union level, such as a handbook of Union legislation, information bulletins, practical manuals, glossaries and lexicons, databases, especially in the area of scientific assistance or technology watch or computer support applications, such as software;

• relevant studies with a multidisciplinary and transnational dimension;

• development of technical support instruments and methods to facilitate detection actions at Union level;

• financial support for cooperation in operations involving at least two States when such support is not available from other programmes of European institutions and bodies;

(c) grants to finance the purchase of equipment to be used by specialised anti-counterfeiting authorities for protecting the euro against counterfeiting, in compliance with Article 10(3).

(1)

League of Nations Treaty Series No 2623 (1931), p. 372.