Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-02-16-Speech-3-290"
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"en.20000216.17.3-290"2
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"Mr President, Mrs Cederschiöld, ladies and gentlemen, how safe is the euro? That is, after all, a question the people often ask. And that question will of course become increasingly pressing with the approach of 1 January 2002, the date when they will have euros in their pockets. For the safety of the euro is not just a matter of the stability and external value of the currency but, in fact, also of protecting the euro against counterfeiting. That too is a concern of the people, for, as has rightly been said, this will be a new currency for them, new in terms of how it looks and also how it is used. Of course all the citizens of the EU Member States will also be faced with the novelty of a currency that is valid over such a wider area, and even beyond Europe, as a reserve currency. They will need time to get used to that too.
I believe that this debate shortly before midnight will also teach a salutary lesson to all those counterfeiters who believe their hour has come, because they think the EU is no longer awake at this late hour!
So it is clearly necessary to ask what the EU is doing to protect the euro against counterfeiting. And that is what we are discussing at this late hour. This really is a subject that is close to the citizen, so it is a pity it is being debated at such a late hour. But that cannot be helped.
Of course, the European Central Bank has been looking into the matter for a very long time. After all, it is responsible for technical measures to protect against counterfeiting. As has also been pointed out, in summer 1998 the Commission submitted a communication listing a very wide variety of areas where measures need to be taken, such as information, further training – an important area, cooperation between the euro-states and of course even beyond them, and measures under criminal law. That is what this framework decision is about.
Mrs Cederschiöld, let me offer you sincere thanks on behalf of the Commission and, above all, let me also thank Parliament for being prepared to give its position in the space of such a short time. I certainly appreciate that.
The framework decision aims to ensure that the Member States apply the same definition of counterfeiting offences. Of course the first condition for uniform action is always to have uniform definitions and, as was emphasised, what we are basically trying to do is to ensure that the euro is protected even before it is physically introduced.
Naturally, the Commission is also glad that the European Parliament’s prompt decision – and I hope the vote will be in favour – means the framework decision can enter into force very rapidly now, so that we can begin to transpose it. For the Commission has been asked to report, as it will in the first half of next year, on the progress in transposing it in the Member States, on whether the serious nature of this issue is being matched by serious action.
It has been pointed out that this framework decision is in fact a decision in the area of criminal law. In that respect we must recognise this innovation, this step, even if, as Mr Schulz just pointed out, simply supplementing a rather old convention is not really a particularly bold step. In reply to the question whether the Commission considers that the framework decision has an adequate legal basis under the Treaty, the Commission believes that the right basis is being applied here.
The framework decision will, however, have to be supplemented by other legal acts in future. The Commission will submit a proposal for a regulation on cooperation between all the responsible authorities and on cooperation with Europol. That proposal will establish a duty to cooperate, and a duty on the part of the national authorities to notify Europol of cases of counterfeiting and to present any confiscated counterfeit money to the European Central Bank for identification and classification, so that effective measures can then be taken.
On the question of coordinating the various measures, since early 1998, the Commission, followed now by OLAF, has been working with experts on the subject from the Member States, the European Central Bank and Europol on means of effectively combating counterfeiting of the euro in advance. As Mr Karas just pointed out, a few weeks ago the Commission submitted a proposal for an information campaign on the euro, to which it proposed allocating as much as EUR 32 million. That is a volume of funding that can be put to very effective use, a large amount; and of course the information campaign will also focus very strongly on protecting the euro against counterfeiting."@en1
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