The multiannual action programme to promote actions for the protection and safeguarding of the euro against counterfeiting and related fraud ‘Pericles 2020’ (‘the Programme’) is hereby established for the period from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2020.
Article 2 -
Added value
The Programme shall actively encourage and entail an increase in transnational cooperation for the protection of the euro inside and outside the Union and with the Union’s trading partners, and with attention also being paid to those Member States or third countries that have the highest rates of euro counterfeiting, as shown by the relevant reports issued by the competent authorities. Such cooperation shall contribute to the greater effectiveness of the protection of the euro through the exchanging of best practice, common standards and joint specialised training.
Article 3 -
General objective
The general objective of the Programme shall be to prevent and combat counterfeiting and related fraud, thus enhancing the competitiveness of the Union’s economy and securing the sustainability of public finances.
Article 4 -
Specific objective
The specific objective of the Programme shall be to protect euro banknotes and coins against counterfeiting and related fraud, by supporting and supplementing the measures undertaken by the Member States and assisting the competent national and Union authorities in their efforts to develop among themselves and with the Commission a close and regular cooperation and an exchange of best practice, where appropriate including third countries and international organisations.
That objective shall be measured, inter alia, through the effectiveness of action by financial, technical, law-enforcement and judicial authorities, as measured through the number of counterfeits detected, illegal workshops dismantled, individuals arrested and penalties imposed.
Article 5 -
Bodies eligible for funding
Bodies eligible for funding under the Programme shall be the competent national authorities as defined in point (b) of Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 1338/2001.
Article 6 -
Participation in the Programme
1. Participating countries shall be the Member States having adopted the euro as their single currency.
2. The proposals presented by the Member States referred to in paragraph 1 may include participants from third countries, if that is important for the fulfilment of the general and specific objectives provided for in Articles 3 and 4 respectively.
Article 7 -
Target groups and joint actions
1. The Programme shall target the participation of the following groups:
(a)
staff of agencies engaged in detecting and combating counterfeiting, in particular police forces and financial administrations, depending on their specific functions at national level;
(b)
intelligence personnel;
(c)
representatives of the national central banks, the mints, commercial banks and other financial intermediaries, in particular as regards the obligations of financial institutions;
(d)
judicial officers, specialist lawyers and members of the judiciary in this field;
(e)
any other group of specialists concerned, such as chambers of commerce and industry or comparable structures capable of providing access to small and medium-sized enterprises, retailers and cash-in-transit companies.
2. Actions under the Programme may be organised jointly by the Commission and other partners having relevant expertise, such as:
(a)
the national central banks and the European Central Bank (ECB);
(b)
the National Analysis Centres (NACs) and the Coin National Analysis Centres (CNACs);
(c)
the European Technical and Scientific Centre (ETSC) and the mints;
(d)
Europol, Eurojust and Interpol;
(e)
the national central anti-counterfeiting offices provided for in Article 12 of the International Convention for the Suppression of Counterfeiting Currency signed at Geneva on 20 April 1929 (14) and other agencies specialising in prevention, detection and law-enforcement in connection with counterfeiting;
(f)
specialist bodies concerned in the field of duplication and certification technologies, printers and engravers;
(g)
bodies other than those referred to in points (a) to (f) offering specific expertise, including, where appropriate, such bodies from third countries and in particular from acceding States and candidate countries; and
(h)
private entities that have developed and provided evidence of technical knowledge and teams specialising in detecting counterfeit banknotes and coins.
Article 8 -
Eligible actions
1. The Programme shall take into account the transnational and multidisciplinary aspects of the fight against counterfeiting and shall promote best practice adapted to the national specificities of each Member State.
2. The Programme shall provide, under the conditions set out in the annual work programmes referred to in Article 11, financial support for the following actions:
(a)
exchange and dissemination of information, in particular through organising workshops, meetings and seminars, including training, targeted placements and exchanges of staff of competent national authorities and other similar actions. The exchange of information shall, inter alia, be targeted at:
—
methodologies for monitoring and analysing the economic and financial impact of counterfeiting;
—
operation of databases and early warning systems;
—
use of detection tools with computer back-up;
—
enquiry and investigation methods;
—
scientific assistance, in particular scientific databases and technology watch/monitoring of new developments;
—
protection of the euro outside the Union;
—
research actions;
—
provision of specific operational expertise;
(b)
technical, scientific and operational assistance, as appears necessary as part of the Programme including in particular:
—
any appropriate measure which establishes teaching resources at Union level, such as a handbook of Union legislation, information bulletins, practical manuals, glossaries and lexicons, databases, especially in the area of scientific assistance or technology watch or computer support applications, such as software;
—
relevant studies with a multidisciplinary and transnational dimension;
—
development of technical support instruments and methods to facilitate detection actions at Union level;
—
financial support for cooperation in operations involving at least two States when such support is not available from other programmes of European institutions and bodies;
(c)
grants to finance the purchase of equipment to be used by specialised anti-counterfeiting authorities for protecting the euro against counterfeiting, in compliance with Article 10(3).
CHAPTER II - FINANCIAL FRAMEWORK
Article 9 -
Financial envelope
1. The financial envelope for the implementation of the Programme for the period from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2020 shall be EUR 7 344 000 (in current prices).
2. Within the financial envelope for the Programme, amounts shall be allocated to eligible actions listed in Article 8(2) in accordance with the indicative allocation of funds laid down in the Annex.
The Commission shall not depart from that indicative allocation of funds by more than 10 %. Should it prove necessary to exceed that limit, the Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 14 to modify the indicative allocation of funds laid down in the Annex.
3. The annual appropriations shall be authorised by the European Parliament and the Council within the limits of the multiannual financial framework.
Article 10 -
Types of financial support and co-financing
1. The Commission shall implement the Programme in accordance with Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012.
2. Financial support under the Programme for eligible actions listed in Article 8(2) shall take the form of either:
(a)
grants; or
(b)
public procurement.
3. The purchase of equipment shall not be the sole component of the grant agreement.
4. The co-financing rate for grants awarded under the Programme shall not exceed 75 % of the eligible costs. In exceptional and duly justified cases, defined in the annual work programmes referred to in Article 11, the co-financing rate shall not exceed 90 % of the eligible costs.
5. Where eligible actions listed in Article 8(2) are organised jointly by the Commission and the ECB, Eurojust, Europol or Interpol, the ensuing expenses shall be divided among them. In any event, each of them shall bear the travel and accommodation costs of its own guest speakers.
Article 11 -
Annual work programmes
In order to implement the Programme, the Commission shall adopt annual work programmes.
Each annual work programme shall implement the general and specific objectives provided for in Articles 3 and 4 respectively by setting out the following:
(a)
the actions to be undertaken in accordance with such general and specific objectives, including the indicative allocation of funds and the method of implementation;
(b)
for grants: the essential selection criteria and the maximum possible rate of co-financing.
Funds allocated to communication actions under the Programme shall also contribute to covering the corporate communication of the Union’s political priorities, as far as they relate to the general objective set out in Article 3.
Article 12 -
Protection of the financial interests of the Union
1. The Commission shall take appropriate measures ensuring that, when actions financed under this Regulation are implemented, the financial interests of the Union are protected by the application of preventive measures against fraud, corruption and any other illegal activities by effective checks and, if irregularities are detected, by the recovery of the amounts wrongly paid and, where appropriate, by effective, proportionate and dissuasive administrative and financial penalties.
2. The Commission or its representatives and the Court of Auditors shall have the power of audit, on the basis of documents and on the spot, over all grant beneficiaries, contractors and subcontractors who have received Union funds under the Programme.
3. The European Anti-fraud Office (OLAF) may carry out investigations, including on-the-spot checks and inspections, in accordance with the provisions and procedures laid down in Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 883/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (15) and Council Regulation (Euratom, EC) No 2185/96 (16) with a view to establishing whether there has been fraud, corruption or any other illegal activity affecting the financial interests of the Union in connection with a grant agreement or grant decision or a contract funded under the Programme.
4. Without prejudice to paragraphs 1, 2 and 3, cooperation agreements with third countries and with international organisations, contracts, grant agreements and grant decisions resulting from the implementation of this Regulation shall contain provisions expressly empowering the Commission, the Court of Auditors and OLAF to conduct such audits and investigations, according to their respective competences.
CHAPTER III - MONITORING, EVALUATION AND DELEGATED POWERS
Article 13 -
Monitoring and evaluation
1. The Programme shall be implemented by the Commission in cooperation with the Member States, through regular consultations at different stages of the implementation of the Programme, within the committee referred to in Regulation (EC) No 1338/2001, taking into account relevant measures undertaken by other competent entities, in particular the ECB and Europol.
2. The Commission shall seek to ensure consistency and complementarity between the Programme and other relevant programmes and actions at Union level.
3. The Commission shall provide annual information on the results of the Programme to the European Parliament and to the Council. Information on consistency and complementarity with other relevant programmes and actions at Union level shall be included. The Commission shall constantly disseminate the results of the actions supported under the Programme. All participating countries and other beneficiaries shall provide the Commission with all the data and information necessary to permit the monitoring and evaluation of the Programme.
4. An evaluation of the Programme shall be carried out by the Commission. By 31 December 2017, an independent mid-term evaluation report shall be presented by the Commission on the achievement of the objectives of all the measures (at the level of results and impacts), the efficient and cost-effective use of resources and its added value for the Union. The evaluation report shall be prepared with a view to informing a decision on the renewal, modification or suspension of the measures. The evaluation shall additionally address the scope for simplification, its internal and external coherence, the continued relevance of all objectives, as well as the contribution of the measures to the Union’s priorities of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. It shall take into account evaluation results on the long-term impact of the predecessor measures.
5. The long-term impact and the sustainability of effects of the Programme shall also be evaluated with a view to informing a decision on a possible renewal, modification or suspension of any subsequent programme.
6. In addition, by 31 December 2021, the Commission shall present to the European Parliament and to the Council a final evaluation report on the achievement of the objectives of the Programme.
Article 14 -
Exercise of the delegation
1. The power to adopt delegated acts is conferred on the Commission subject to the conditions laid down in this Article.
2. The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in Article 9 shall be conferred on the Commission from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2020.
3. The delegation of power referred to in Article 9 may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council. A decision to revoke shall put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take effect the day following the publication of the decision in the Official Journal of the European Union or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of any delegated acts already in force.
4. As soon as it adopts a delegated act, the Commission shall notify it simultaneously to the European Parliament and to the Council.
5. A delegated act adopted pursuant to Article 9 shall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament or by the Council within a period of two months of notification of that act to the European Parliament and the Council or if, before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission that they will not object. That period shall be extended by two months at the initiative of the European Parliament or of the Council.
CHAPTER IV - FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 15 -
Repeal
Decisions 2001/923/EC, 2001/924/EC, 2006/75/EC, 2006/76/EC, 2006/849/EC and 2006/850/EC are repealed.
However, financial obligations relating to actions pursued under those Decisions shall continue to be governed by those Decisions until the fulfilment of those obligations.
Article 16 -
Entry into force
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
It shall apply from 1 January 2014.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in the Member States in accordance with the Treaties.
