The Committee on Civil
Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs adopted the report by Agustín DÍAZ DE
MERA GARCÍA CONSUEGRA (EPP-ED, ES) amending, under the consultation
procedure, the proposal for a Council regulation amending Regulation (EC) No
1338/2001 laying down measures necessary for the protection of the Euro
against counterfeiting.
The main amendments approved by
the committee responsible can be summarised as follows:
- Other types of
establishment: MEPs hope to extend the scope of the proposal to
other types of establishment in addition to large credit institutions to
ensure that all institutions and economic agents involved in the sorting
and distribution of Euro notes and coins to the public, either directly
or via cash distribution machines (this shall include bureaux de change,
large shopping centres and casinos), check the authenticity of Euro
notes and coins in circulation;
- Small and medium-sized
traders: MEPs distinguish from large credit institutions and “other
establishments”, small retailers operating on small or medium-sized
premises. While these retailers are able to meet the obligation of verifying
the authenticity of Euro notes and coins in accordance with the
procedures established by the ECB and the Commission, they do not have
the necessary means to do so, which is why MEPs consider that the only
obligation for these retailers is to ‘act with due diligence’ by
withdrawing from circulation any Euro notes and coins which they have
sufficient reason to believe to be counterfeit;
- Cash transporters:
MEPs also extend the provision for the verification and withdrawal of
Euro notes and coins to cash transporters but only if they have direct
access to the notes and coins concerned;
- Passing on counterfeit
money to the competent authorities: for the purpose of facilitating
the control for authenticity of circulating Euro notes (and when the
quantity seized so permits), an adequate number of counterfeit Euro
shall be transmitted to the competent national bodies, even when these
constitute evidence in criminal proceedings (for the purpose of calibrating
and adjusting Euro-note authentification equipment);
- Non-Euro countries:
MEPs state that, in Member States which do not use the Euro, a control
procedure shall be laid down for the purpose of checking the
authenticity of Euro notes and coins used by the institutions referred
to in the regulation (credit institutions, ‘other establishments’ and
‘small and medium-sized traders’ which shall be obliged to withdraw from
circulation all Euro notes and coins which they suspect to be
counterfeit);
- Implementation: MEPs
consider that the regulation should enter into force on 31 December
2011 and not on 31 December 2009 as planned by the
Commission, in order to give Member States time to adapt;
- Raise awareness of the
risks posed by counterfeiting: lastly, MEPs add a new paragraph to
the proposal calling for the creation and promotion of training and
information activities (information booklets, training seminars) for
citizens and consumers concerning the risks posed by counterfeiting, the
basic security measures and the appropriate authorities to be contacted
by those who come into possession of suspected counterfeit notes and/or
coins.