The European
Parliament adopted, by 625 votes to 2 with 54 abstentions, a legislative
resolution amending 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 report
had been tabled for consideration in plenary by Agustín DÍAZ DE MERA
GARCÍA CONSUEGRA (EPP-ED, ES) on behalf of the Committee on Civil
Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs.
The main amendments – adopted in the framework of the
consultation procedure – are as follows:
- Definitions: Parliament inserted definitions for "other institutions" and "small and medium-sized
trader".
- Scope and obligations: credit
institutions, cash transporters and any other economic agents
engaged in the sorting and distribution to the public of notes and
coins, including establishments whose professional activity consists in
exchanging notes and coins of different currencies, such as bureaux de
change, and economic agents engaged, as a subsidiary activity, in the
sorting and distribution of notes to the public by means of automated
teller machines, shall be obliged to ensure that euro notes and
coins are checked for authenticity and fitness for circulation and
counterfeits are detected. Cash transporters shall be required to verify
the authenticity of euro notes and coins only where they have direct
access to the euro notes and coins which are entrusted to them. The
credit institutions and other economic agents and small and
medium-sized traders shall be obliged to withdraw from circulation
all euro notes and coins received by them which they know or have
sufficient reason to believe to be counterfeit. They shall immediately
hand them over to the competent national authorities.
- Non-Euro countries: in those Member States other
than the participating Member States listed in Regulation (EC) No
974/98, a specific control procedure shall be laid down for the purpose
of checking the authenticity of euro notes and coins used by the
institutions referred to above.
- 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.
- Adoption: certain provisions should be adopted by 31 December 2011 and
not on 31 December 2009 as planned by the Commission.
- 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.