Introductory text

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular the third sentence of Article 123(4) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Central Bank^f1,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament^f2,

Whereas:

Council Regulation (EC) No 1338/2001^f3 requires credit institutions and any other related institutions to withdraw from circulation all euro notes and coins received by them which they know or have sufficient reason to believe to be counterfeit and hand them over to the competent national authorities.

It is important to ensure that circulating euro notes and coins are authentic. To that end, credit institutions, other payment service providers and other economic agents involved in the processing and distribution of notes and coins should check the authenticity of the euro notes and coins they receive before they put them back into circulation, except where they come from other establishments or persons who are themselves under an obligation to check or where they have been obtained from the authorities authorised to issue them. Other economic agents, such as traders and casinos, should also be subject to these obligations where they supply, on a secondary basis, automated teller machines (cash dispensers), but they may not be involved beyond these secondary activities. In order to comply with the obligation to check for authenticity, these economic agents nevertheless need time to adapt their internal functioning. As regards notes, the procedures laid down for Member States which have adopted the euro as a single currency may also cover the suitability of the checked notes for circulation.

Appropriate adjustment of the equipment is a prerequisite for checking the authenticity of euro notes and coins. In order to adjust the equipment used for the checks for authenticity it is essential that the necessary quantities of counterfeit notes and coins are available at the places where testing is conducted. It is, therefore, appropriate to permit the transporting of counterfeit notes and coins between competent national authorities as well as institutions and bodies of the European Union.

The European Technical and Scientific Centre (ETSC) is now formally established within the Commission by Council Decision 2003/861/EC^f4 and Commission Decision 2005/37/EC^f5. Therefore, the provision stating that the ETSC communicates data to the Commission is no longer necessary.

Regulation (EC) No 1338/2001 should therefore be amended accordingly,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: