The Commission presents a report concerning the
implementation and the results of the Pericles 2020 programme for
the protection of the euro against counterfeiting in
2015.
The main conclusion of the report is that the
''Pericles 2020'' programme continues to be an important and
effective tool in the fight against
counterfeiting.
Implementation of the programme and results of
committed actions: the annual budget
for the implementation of the programme for the year 2015 was set
at EUR 1 024 800. A total of EUR 967 739.33 was committed in 2015.
Discussions of the multi-annual strategy at the meetings of the
Euro Counterfeiting Experts Group (ECEG) made it possible to commit
94.4% of the overall budget in 2015.
The Commission's assessment is that, in comparison to
the previous year, more projects were co-financed under the
programme. In 2015, the programme funded 12 projects in
total. 2 actions were implemented in 2015, while 10 actions
will be implemented in 2016.
- Applicants to the
programme represented five Member States, namely Italy, France,
Spain, Germany and Croatia, which reflects the fact that the
countries most affected by euro counterfeiting are more frequent
users of Pericles funds.
- Specific focus areas in
2015 were Latin America (two actions organised by Spain),
South-East Europe (actions organised by Croatia, Italy and the
Commission), the Mediterranean region (an action organised by
Italy) and China (actions organised by France, Italy and the
Commission).
- Participants come from 59 countries. The majority (65%) are European participants. Of
special note is the increase in participants from Asia,
representing 4% with all participants coming from
China.
- With respect to the professional background of
participants, members from police
forces represent 53% of the total. A continuing trend of
differentiation among the various other categories of participants
(47%) should be highlighted. There was high participation from
Central Banks (19%), and a growing participation of judicial staff
(10%) 5 and customs (4%).
Overview of actions in 2015: the programme forms the basis for the support of
studies, maintaining and developing cooperation, and
exchanging best practices among all actors involved in the fight
against euro counterfeiting:
- the programme has succeeded in maintaining and further
strengthening strong regional and international cooperation, with
several actions taking place in Latin America, the Mediterranean
area and the Balkans region, as well as three actions that involve
representatives from China;
- in January 2016, the Pericles-funded 'Sino European
Cooperation in Combatting Counterfeiting of the Euro' conference
was held in Paris. The 'Pericles EU-China Workshop on the
protection of currencies' will be held in Brussels with
participation of the Chinese Ministry of Public
Security;
- the Commission continues the sequence of Euro South
East Conferences with the 12th Euro South East conference that will
be held in October 2016 in Zagreb, Croatia;
- lastly, the programme shows a high degree of
complementarity and consistency with other relevant EU programmes,
such as OLAF's Hercule III programme, which protects the financial interests
of the Union.
Priorities for 2016:
based on the results of the implementation of the programme and the
continuous analysis of emerging threats discussed in the ECEG, the
priorities for 2016 are the following:
- supporting activities aimed at improving
cooperation among those Member States which are particularly
affected by the production and distribution of
counterfeits;
- fostering cooperation with authorities of those
third countries where there is suspicion of or evidence for
counterfeit euro production;
- maintaining an efficient framework for the protection
of the euro in South-East Europe;
- introducing new developments: security features or authentication methods, the
distribution of counterfeits and raw materials on the internet and
the involvement of Member States' customs authorities in the fight
against currency counterfeiting.