Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-05-02-Speech-3-165"
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"en.20010502.11.3-165"2
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".
Mr President, honourable Members, rapporteur, 1 January 2002 will indeed be an historic date, marking as it does the physical introduction of the euro for 300 million citizens in the European Union. Obviously, numerous preparations still need to be made and it has been mentioned, not for the first time, that the European Parliament is tackling this. The European Parliament has dealt with the preparations and the necessary steps right from the start.
This report deals with the Commission initiative and the French initiative on the protection of the euro against counterfeiting. I should like, on the Commission’s behalf, to congratulate the rapporteur on her excellent work and to report that the Commission will be happy to include any addenda proposed by the European Parliament. I should also like to stress that the regulation is the pivotal and central point of a comprehensive procedure to protect the euro against counterfeiting. I should like to remind you that the Commission has submitted various proposals since its communication in July 1998. The regulation before us stipulates in particular – I do not intend to go through the whole thing, I just want to mention a few points – that exchanges of information on any counterfeit euro notes and coins discovered will be centralised and regulated. Collaboration and mutual assistance between the various players involved at Member State level and the institutions and bodies at European and international level is clearly regulated, as are collaboration with third countries and the obligations incumbent upon credit institutions. I should like at this point to highlight once again the importance of Article 6 of the regulation, namely the obligation to withdraw from circulation any banknotes which have been identified as counterfeit or which need to be tested and to pass them to the appropriate agencies.
It is, of course, particularly important, in the light of the time frame which we are discussing, that the regulation be adopted as quickly as possible and I hope that it will be adopted before the end of the Swedish Presidency, because preparations need to be made as quickly as possible. This is the credo which the Commission is passing on to small- and medium-sized enterprises and consumers. Any preparations which can be completed today will mean less worry and stress tomorrow and will make the whole project that much safer.
The Commission intends to take an active part in the subsequent implementation of the regulation. This applies in particular to Article 7 dealing with collaboration between the Member States, the Commission and the European Central Bank and with Interpol. An advisory committee has been set up to help the Commission here.
I should like to remind you that this regulation is not the only important measure to protect the euro against counterfeiting. Various additional instruments have already been adopted or are currently being prepared. For example, a framework resolution relating to criminal law was adopted on 29 May. I should also like to mention another measure which is currently being prepared and which the Commission will adopt in a few weeks’ time, namely a multiannual programme to provide training, technical assistance and exchanges for officials in order to protect the euro against counterfeiting. The delightfully named PERIKLES programme will also be of considerable importance.
The euro is indeed an historic milestone on the path towards integration and it offers huge potential for further economic development. Of course we always highlight the opportunities here but we do not underestimate the risks attached to the date set for the physical introduction of the euro. We are not underestimating the problems, we are tackling them. I should like to thank the European Parliament for its support; it just goes to show that we are all working to make this project a huge success."@en1
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