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

In order to improve the protection of the euro against counterfeiting, Council Regulation (EC) No 1338/2001 requires credit institutions and, within the limits of their payment activity, other payment service providers, as well as any other institutions engaged in the processing and distribution to the public of notes and coins (hereinafter "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they intend to put back into circulation are checked for authenticity, and that counterfeits which they detect are withdrawn from circulation.

For coins this obligation is further detailed in Regulation (EU) No 1210/2010. 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 and for the implementation of control mechanisms of the authentication procedures by the national authorities. An authentication procedure is designed to verify that euro coins are genuine and fit for circulation.

Member States shall submit annually reports to the Commission on their activities as regards authentication of euro coins in line with Article 12(1). The information provided in these reports shall include the numbers of controls carried out and of coin-processing machines checked by Member States, the test results, the volume of coins processed by those machines, the number of suspected counterfeit coins analysed and the number of euro coins unfit for circulation reimbursed as well as details of any derogations implemented by Member States under the Regulation.

The Commission shall present an annual report to the Economic and Financial Committee (EFC) under Article 12(4) on the developments and results concerning the authentication of euro coins and euro coins unfit for circulation based on the analysis of the annual reports submitted by the Member States. In June 2014 the Commission (OLAF) presented its first report to the EFC for the year 2012. This report is presented to the European Parliament and to the Council under Article 12(5), focusing on the operation and effects of the Regulation, accompanied, if appropriate, by legislative proposals.

See also:
- 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

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