(*) These indicators, while linked to the protection of the euro, should be considered as 'context' indicators as the results are greatly influenced by factors external to the programme, such as counterfeiting activity and the detection rate consequence of the activities or the competent national and EU authorities.
Budget for 2021-2027
(million EUR)
Financial programming | 6.2 |
NextGenerationEU |
|
Decommitments made available again (*) | N/A |
Contributions from other countries and entities |
|
Total budget 2021-2027 | 6.2 |
(*) Only Article 15(3) of the financial regulation.
Rationale and design of the programme
The Pericles IV programme funds staff exchanges, seminars, trainings and studies for law enforcement and judicial authorities, banks and others involved in protecting the euro against counterfeiting. Actions can take place in the euro area, in Member States outside the euro area and in non-EU countries.
The use of the euro – the EU's single currency – continues to grow, including as a medium for international transactions and reserve currency. At the same time, the euro continues to be exposed to the threat of increasingly sophisticated counterfeits.
The protection of the euro benefits all Member States, EU citizens and EU businesses. Given the cross-border circulation of the euro and the involvement of international organised crime in euro counterfeiting (production and distribution), the protection of the euro goes beyond the interests, means and responsibilities of individual Member States. Appropriately, Article 133 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union bestows the responsibility for the protection of the euro as the single currency to the EU. National protection frameworks are essential, but they need to be complemented and coordinated by action at the EU level. Moreover, international cooperation is necessary to fend off emerging transnational risks.
Pericles IV aims to prevent and combat counterfeiting and related fraud and preserve the integrity of the euro banknotes and coins. This strengthens the trust of citizens and business in the genuineness of these banknotes and coins and therefore enhances the trust in the EU's economy, all while securing the sustainability of public finances.
The programme promotes transnational and cross-border cooperation within the EU as well as internationally ensuring a global protection of the euro against counterfeiting. In particular, it will take responsibility for countering specific emerging threats and the (challenging) relationship with certain countries.
The programme's specific objective is 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 EU authorities in their efforts to develop – among themselves and with the Commission – close and regular cooperation and an exchange of best practices, including with non-EU countries and international organisations where appropriate.
The programme supports:
- the 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;
- technical, scientific and operational assistance, as appears necessary as part of the programme;
- the purchase of equipment to be used by specialised anti-counterfeiting authorities of non-EU countries for protecting the euro against counterfeiting.
The programme is implemented through direct management. DG for Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN) is the lead for programme implementation.
Projects co-financed under the programme are implemented directly by DG ECFIN or in the form of grant awards to national competent authorities in the EU (both in and outside of the euro area).
The implementation of the programme is based on a yearly Pericles strategy that identifies the priority in terms of threat for the euro. The strategy benefits of the contribution from the ECB and Europol and is endorsed by the Member States competent national authorities at the euro counterfeiting experts group.
One of the core objectives of DG ECFIN is to ensure a smooth functioning of the EU's Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) through a strong economic governance framework. In this context, the protection of the euro against counterfeiting is a specific objective.
Pericles IV is a continuation of the Pericles 2020 programme. The main novelties are the simplification of the application process through the use of the eGrants system and the addition of key performance indicators measuring the quality of the service provided.
Programme website:
Impact assessment:
- Commission Staff Working Document ‘SWD(2018) 281 final’ accompanying the proposal COM(2018) 369.https://europa.eu/!gG67BV
Relevant regulation:
- Regulation (EU) 2021/840 of the European Parliament and of the Council
- Council Regulation (EU) 2021/1696
Evaluations:
Budget
Budget programming (million EUR):
2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Financial programming | 0.8 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 6.2 |
NextGenerationEU | ||||||||
Decommitments made available again (*) | N/A | |||||||
Contributions from other countries and entities | ||||||||
Total | 0.8 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 6.2 |
(*) Only Article 15(3) of the financial regulation.
Financial programming:
+ EUR 0.0 million (+ 0%)
compared to the legal basis(*)
(*) Top-ups pursuant to Article 5 of the multiannual financial framework regulation are excluded from financial programming in this comparison.
The Pericles IV programme implementation has an annual focus, which is reflected in its financial programming and in the annual Pericles implementation strategy.
Budget performance – implementation
Multiannual cumulative implementation rate at the end of 2022 (million EUR):
Implementation | 2021-2027 Budget | Implementation rate | |
---|---|---|---|
Commitments | 1.7 | 6.2 | 26.8% |
Payments | 0.9 | 15.3% |
Annual voted budget implementation (million EUR)(1):
Commitments | Payments | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Voted budget implementation | Initial voted budget | Voted budget implementation | Initial voted budget | |
2021 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.4 |
2022 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.7 |
(1) Voted appropriations (C1) only.
The commitments reached 97.4% of the overall budget for 2022, funding eight projects in total.
The eight actions for which commitments were made in 2022 consist of five grants awarded from applications originating from the competent authorities of the Member States and three Commission actions.
Grants were approved for one seminar/conference, one technical training course, and three staff exchanges, all scheduled to take place in 2023. The seminar/conference will take place outside of the EU, namely in Colombia, with participants from 16 Latin American countries.
Three Commission actions were committed using existing framework contracts:
The study on movie money, banknotes that show ‘prop copy’ and related ‘disclaimers’ on the front or reverse side of the notes, and other altered design banknotes to be implemented in 2023;
The October 2022 conference ‘4th Platform 1210 Meeting’; and
The March 2023 training on the protection of the euro against counterfeiting in Chisinau, Moldova.
Contribution to horizontal priorities
Green budgeting
Contribution to green budgeting priorities (million EUR):
Implementation | Estimates | Total contribution | % of the 2021–2027 budget | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | |||
Climate mainstreaming | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0% | |||||
Biodiversity mainstreaming | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0% | |||||
Clean air |
0.0 |
0.0 | 0.0 | 0% |
Gender
Contribution to gender equality (million EUR) (*):
Gender Score | 2021 | 2022 | Total |
---|---|---|---|
0 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 1.6 |
(*) Based on the applied gender contribution methodology, the following scores are attributed at the most granular level of intervention possible:
- 2: interventions the principal objective of which is to improve gender equality;
- 1: interventions that have gender equality as an important and deliberate objective but not as the main reason for the intervention;
- 0: non-targeted interventions (interventions that are expected to have no significant bearing on gender equality);
- 0*: score to be assigned to interventions with a likely but not yet clear positive impact on gender equality.
Digital
Contribution to digital transition (million EUR):
2021 | 2022 | Total | % of the total 2021-2027 implementation | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Digital contribution | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0% |
Budget performance – outcomes
Baseline | Progress | Target | Results | Assessment | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Counterfeit euro banknotes detected in circulation | 0 | 0% (1) | 671 000 annually (3) | Milestones not achieved for 2021 and 2022 | Moderate progress |
Counterfeit euro coins detected in circulation | 0 | 0% (1) | 174 112 annually (3) from 2021 to 2027 | Milestones not achieved for 2021 and 2022 | Moderate progress |
Illegal workshops dismantled | 0 | 0% (1) | 22 annually (4) from 2021 to 2027 | Milestones not achieved for 2021 and 2022. | Moderate progress |
Competent authorities applying to the programme | 0 | 25% (2) | 24 in 2027 | 6 compared to a target of 24 | On track |
Satisfaction rate of participants in the actions financed by the programme | 0% | 29% (1) | 75% annually from 2021 to 2027 | Milestones achieved for 2021 and 2022 | On track |
Feedback of participants on the impact of the programme on their activities in protecting the euro against counterfeiting | 0% | 29% (1) | 75% annually from 2021 to 2027 | Milestones achieved for 2021 and 2022 | On track |
(1) % of years for which the milestones or target have been achieved during the 2021-2027 period.
(2) % of target achieved by the end of 2022.
(3) The target for this indicator is to keep the number of counterfeit euros detected within the range of ± 5% compared to the 2014-2020 average results.
(4) The target for this indicator is to keep the number of counterfeit euros detected within the range of ± 10% compared to the 2019 results.
Link to file with complete set of EU core performance indicators
- In 2022, Pericles IV continued to support the Member States and to assist the competent national and EU authorities in protecting euro banknotes and coins against counterfeiting and fraud.
- The number of counterfeit euro banknotes detected and the number of illegal workshops dismantled were lower than expected. It should be noted, however, that the link between the programme and these indicators is only indirect, as a variety of external factors play an important role in the development of the indicators. These external factors include the progress of police investigations, the amount of counterfeit production and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the circulation of cash.
- On the other hand, the indicators that are more directly linked to the programme – such as the number of competent authorities applying, the satisfaction rate (with 100% of respondents being satisfied or highly satisfied across actions implemented in 2022) and the feedback of participants – showed very positive results.
- 2022 saw the implementation of five Pericles IV-funded actions.
- The procured annual ‘Platform 1210 meeting’ represented the actions of all parties involved in the authentication of euro coins.
- Four funded actions (grants).
- Three workshops (May, August and September) organised by Germany’s ‘Bundeskriminalamt (Federal Criminal Police Office)’ under the title ‘COPE’ (counterfeit – OST – enquiries). The participants increased their knowledge of counterfeit money investigations related to the internet/darknet and were able to implement this in practice.
- The ‘Banco de Portugal (Bank of Portugal)’ organised a 3-day seminar on 26-28 October 2022 in Lisbon for experts from all euro-area countries, Croatia (which was then in the process of adopting the euro) and Türkiye under the title ‘The euro knowledge’.
- The ‘Carabinieri (National Gendarmerie)’ Currency Anti-counterfeiting Unit (Italy) organised a staff exchange titled ‘SEITACC’ which involved six EU Member States – Bulgaria, Italy, Poland, Romania, Spain and Slovenia – and candidate country Serbia. It was designed to strengthen the system for protecting the euro in Europe, particularly in the participating countries with which the unit already exchanges key operational information. The action included two phases: one national and the other international.
- The ‘Brigada de Investigación (Investigation Brigade)’ of ‘Banco de España (Bank of Spain)’ organised a seminar/conference on combating currency counterfeiting which was held on 22-25 November 2022 in Lima, Peru. Participants were specialists (police officers, employees of central banks and judiciaries) involved in preventing and prosecuting counterfeiting in Latin America. They came from 16 Latin American countries and the United States. Police officers from Spain and France assisted the brigade in running this event.
- The 599 participants taking part in Pericles IV actions came from 51 countries. The majority of participants (78%) were from Europe: 65% came from euro-area Member States, while non-euro-area Member States represented 13% and non-EU countries in Europe represented 6%. 11% of participants were from Latin America, 3% represented the European Institutions, 2% came from Africa and the Middle East and 1% from other regions.
- With respect to the professional background of participants, members of police forces represented 53% of the total. This is due to the fact that police authorities, including investigators and technicians, represent the front line in the fight against euro counterfeiting. Other categories of participants accounted for 47% of the total, with experts from national central banks representing 33%. There was also relevant participation of members of the judiciary (5%), mints (2%), the coin-processing industry (2%), customs (<1%) and other categories (2%), along with European institutions (3%), reflecting the wide range of professional backgrounds of the participants.
- In addition, the implementation of the Commission action ‘4th Platform 1210 meeting’ resulted in a notable participation of representatives from the coin-processing-machine industry. This underscores the private sector’s ongoing commitment as a key stakeholder in the fight against counterfeiting.
- As a result of the analysis of the different participants in the Pericles IV actions, the implementation of the programme met the transnational and multidisciplinary dimensions of the programme required under Regulation (EU) 2021/840 with a high degree of diversification.
- During its second year of implementation, a total of eight actions (five grants and three procured actions) were committed under the Pericles IV programme. This represents a decrease in the number of commitments compared to the second year of implementation of the previous Pericles 2020 programme, which funded 12 actions (nine grants and three procured actions) in 2015. This decrease is due to the lower budget in the current multiannual financial framework and the increase in inflation rates.
- One significant change in the Pericles IV programme compared to the Pericles 2020 programme is the integration of Pericles IV, as of 2021, into the corporate e-Grants scheme for the management of calls for proposals and direct grants under the new 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework. The e-Grants system manages the entire grant management cycle, fully electronically, from call publication to grant closure.
MFF 2014-2020 – Pericles 2020
The Pericles 2020 programme funds staff exchanges, seminars, trainings and the purchase of equipment and studies for law enforcement and judicial authorities, banks and others involved in protecting the euro against counterfeiting. Actions can take place in the euro area, in Member States outside the euro area and in non-EU countries.
Budget
Multiannual cumulative implementation rate at the end of 2021 (million EUR):
Implementation | 2014-2020 Budget | Implementation rate | |
---|---|---|---|
Commitments | 6.9 | 7.1 | 97.4% |
Payments | 5.2 | 72.8% |
- During the 2014-2020 period, the Pericles 2020 programme (previous multiannual financial framework) funded 80 actions: 59 were grants for co-financing events (seminars, conferences, workshops, studies, staff exchange, purchase of equipment) both in and outside of the EU, and 21 were procurement contracts.
- The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the implementation of the actions committed under the Pericles 2020 programme due to the imposed restrictions. Despite the maximum flexibility given to enable: i) beneficiaries to observe the time allowed for implementation; and ii) events to be held fully online (virtual format) or in a hybrid format, the implementation of a certain number of actions had to be postponed.
- Four actions were finalised in 2022, of which one had already been partly organised in a hybrid format.
- Four actions are scheduled to be finalised in 2023 (pending payment appropriations amount to EUR 221 717).
Performance assessment
- Pericles 2020 made a substantial contribution to the further improvement of coordination and cooperation at the international, EU and Member State levels, as well as the creation of more solid structures for the protection of the euro.
- Examples of this are the establishment of a specialised investigation group in Chile in 2019; the increased cooperation networks in the Balkans; the adoption of legislation aimed at improving euro protection; and the establishment of the National Central Office in Argentina in 2019.
- Feedback provided immediately after events organised by the programme showed that 95% of participants expressed a positive or highly positive view. More importantly, a large proportion of them said that they had learned about best practices, acquired useful skills and established contacts with colleagues in other countries. The quality of activities was also judged positively by the authorities involved.
- Quantifying the impact of a capacity-building initiative in terms of protection against criminal activities is a complex exercise, due to the influence of external factors on the extent of said activities, such as the priority set by Member State law enforcement authorities and the length and scope of police investigations.
- In agreement with the final evaluation of Pericles 2020 we can conclude that Pericles 2020 has achieved both its general and specific objectives. It is the only programme that supports, on an EU and global level, the enhancement of the operational capacity of stakeholders involved in the protection of the euro, dissemination of best practices regarding the fight against counterfeiting, and essentially building trust between institutions across countries and regions. Therefore, and due to the ever-evolving threats to the euro that counterfeiting poses, there is acontinued need for Pericles actions.
- A new emerging threat area identified evolves around the possible development of the digital euro and the related risk of e-counterfeiting for example the replication of tokens possibly used for a digital currency and thus a continued need for closer and more regular institutional cooperation and coordination is necessary.
- The success of the programme is based on the face-to-face aspect of the actions implemented and on its specificity, which can only be fully maintained if it remains stand-alone and can offer tailor-made actions for specific objectives.
- The programme has achieved a very high percentage of allocation compared to the reference budgets. The outputs of the actions were largely delivered at a lower cost than what was initially envisaged, while the current co-financing setup is deemed appropriate.
- Key lessons learned have emerged, as shown below:
- There are indications of the expansion of the scope of anti-counterfeiting authorities to cover also digital currencies, including the digital euro, if introduced.
- Based on the stakeholders’ feedback, it can be concluded that the face-to-face aspect of the Pericles actions is a crucial factor for the success of the Programme.
- It can be observed that the prudent budgetary approach of Pericles applicants allows the over-commitment of the available budget by at least 15% more than the budget envisaged per annual programme, and that there is a very high diversity in the costs for Pericles events beyond the EU.
- The higher co-financing rate was useful in extending the geography of participation.
- It is important to maintain regular coordination with relevant directorates-general and other institutions as a way of ensuring complementarity and avoiding overlaps on counterfeit-related projects.
- It can be concluded that keeping the focus on increased cooperation with non-EU countries continues to be a valid objective of the programme.
Sustainable development goals
Contribution to the sustainable development goals
SDGs the programme contributes to | Example |
---|---|
SDG8 Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all |
By preventing and combating counterfeiting and related fraud,, Pericles preserves the integrity of the euro banknotes and coins, thus strengthening the trust of citizens and business in the genuineness of these banknotes and coins and therefore enhancing the trust in the Union's economy, while securing the sustainability of public finances. |
SDG9 Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation |
Pericles contributes to innovation in the development of secure currency and anti-counterfeiting technologies. |