Report from the Commission to the Economic and Financial Committee under Article 12 of Regulation (EU) No 1210/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 December 2010 concerning authentication of euro coins and handling of euro coins unfit for circulation

In order to improve the protection of the euro against counterfeiting, Regulation (EC) No 1338/2001 requires credit institutions and, within the limits of their payment activity, other payment service providers and any other institutions engaged in the processing and distribution to the public of notes and coins (hereafter ‘institutions’) to ensure that euro notes and coins which they have received and which they intend to put back into circulation are checked for authenticity and that counterfeits are detected.

For coins this obligation is further detailed in Regulation (EU) No 1210/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 December 2010 concerning authentication of euro coins and handling of euro coins unfit for circulation (hereafter ‘the Regulation’). The objective of the Regulation is to ensure effective and uniform authentication of euro coins throughout the euro area by providing binding rules for the implementation of common procedures for the authentication of euro coins in circulation as well as for implementation of control mechanism of the authentication procedures by the national authorities. An authentication procedure is designed to verify that euro coins are authentic and fit for circulation.

According to Article 12(4) of the Regulation, the Commission, after having analysed the annual reports received from the Member States, shall present an annual report to the Economic and Financial Committee on developments and results concerning authentication of euro coins and euro coins unfit for circulation.

This is the first time the Commission has prepared such an annual report. The Regulation has been applicable since 1 January 2012, as far as the authentication procedure is concerned. The report covers the year 2012 and the main purpose of it is to assess whether the common authentication procedures have been properly implemented, whether the control mechanisms of the authentication procedures by the national authorities are effective and, finally, furnish an overall statistical overview based on the reports received from Member States.

See also:
- Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council under Article 12(5) of Regulation (EU) No 1210/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 December 2010 concerning authentication of euro coins and handling of euro coins unfit for circulation

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