Deadline: 20-Apr-23
The European Commission (EC) is issuing grants for the Protection of the Euro against Counterfeiting Programme (PERICLES).
Objectives
- The Pericles IV programme has the following general objective:
- To prevent and combat counterfeiting and related fraud, preserve 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.
- The Pericles IV programme has the following specific objective:
- 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.
Aims
The present call aims to:
- support and supplement the measures undertaken by the Member States and
- assist the competent national and authorities in their efforts to develop among themselves and with the European Commission a close and regular cooperation and an exchange of best practices, where appropriate including third countries and international organisations.
Themes and Priorities
The call implements the priorities of the Pericles IV Programme for 2023, i.e.:
- Supporting activities aimed at improving cooperation among Member States which are particularly affected by the production and distribution of counterfeits.
- Fostering cooperation with authorities of third countries where there is suspicion of, or evidence for, counterfeit euro production.
- Maintaining an efficient framework for the protection of the euro in South Eastern Europe.
- Topical developments
- Distribution of counterfeits and high quality components on the darknet, and ‘movie money’ and ‘prop copy’ products online (including altered design notes)
- Support for the establishment / reinforcement of national central offices (NCOs).
- Euro coins: Fight against high qualtiy classes of counterfeits, implementation and handling of euro coins unfit for circulation
Funding Information
- The available call budget is EUR 400 000. This budget might be increased by maximum 20%.
Activities that can be Funded
The call targets the following:
- 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 should, among others, be targeted at:
- best practices in preventing counterfeiting and fraud relating to the euro
- methodologies for monitoring and analysing the economic and financial impact of counterfeiting
- operation of databases and early warning systems
- use of detection tools, including with computer back-up
- enquiry and investigation methods
- scientific assistance, including monitoring of new developments
- protection of the euro outside the Union
- research actions
- provision of specific operational expertise
- technical, scientific and operational assistance, as appears necessary as part of the Programme including in particular:
- any appropriate measure which establish teaching resources at Union level, such as a handbook of 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, including research on innovative security features
- development of technical support instruments and methods to facilitate detection actions at Union level
- support for cooperation in operations involving at least two States when such support cannot be made available from other Programmes of European institutions and bodies
- purchase of equipment to be used by specialised anti-counterfeiting authorities of third countries for protecting the euro against counterfeiting
Target Groups
- Projects should take into account the transnational and multidisciplinary aspects of the fight against counterfeiting and may cover activities in non-EU countries and target groups from non-EU countries.
- Moreover, projects should target the following groups:
- staff of agencies engaged in detecting and combating counterfeiting, in particular police forces, customs and financial administrations, depending on their specific functions at national level
- intelligence personnel
- representatives of the national central banks, the mints, commercial banks and other financial intermediaries, in particular as regards the obligations of financial institutions
- judicial officers, specialist lawyers and members of the judiciary in this field
- 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.
Eligibility Criteria
- In order to be eligible, the applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must:
- be competent national authorities in the area of the protection of the euro against counterfeiting
- be from a Euro area or non-Euro area Member State
- Beneficiaries and affiliated entities must register in the Participant Register — before submitting the proposal — and will have to be validated by the Central Validation Service (REA Validation). For the validation, they will be requested to upload documents showing legal status and origin.
- Other entities may participate in other consortium roles, such as associated partners, subcontractors, third parties giving in-kind contributions, etc.
- Specific cases
- Competent national authorities in the area of the protection of the euro against counterfeiting — These cover entities from EU Member States which have been designated for identifying counterfeit notes and coins, gathering and analysing technical and statistical data relating to counterfeit notes, in particular national central banks or other empowered bodies, gathering and analysing technical and statistical data relating to counterfeit coins, in particular national mints, national central banks or other empowered bodies and gathering data relating to counterfeiting of the euro and submitting them to analysis, in particular the national central offices of the Geneva Convention.
- EU restrictive measures — Special rules apply for certain entities. Such entities are not eligible to participate in any capacity, including as beneficiaries, affiliated entities, associated partners, subcontractors or recipients of financial support to third parties (if any).
Exclusions
- Applicants which are subject to an EU exclusion decision or in one of the following exclusion situations that bar them from receiving EU funding can NOT participate:
- bankruptcy, winding up, affairs administered by the courts, arrangement with creditors, suspended business activities or other similar procedures (including procedures for persons with unlimited liability for the applicant’s debts)
- in breach of social security or tax obligations (including if done by persons with unlimited liability for the applicant’s debts)
- guilty of grave professional misconduct (including if done by persons having powers of representation, decision-making or control, beneficial owners or persons who are essential for the award/implementation of the grant)
- committed fraud, corruption, links to a criminal organisation, money laundering, terrorism-related crimes (including terrorism financing), child labour or human trafficking (including if done by persons having powers of representation, decision-making or control, beneficial owners or persons who are essential for the award/implementation of the grant)
- shown significant deficiencies in complying with main obligations under an EU procurement contract, grant agreement, prize, expert contract, or similar (including if done by persons having powers of representation, decision-making or control, beneficial owners or persons who are essential for the award/implementation of the grant)
- created under a different jurisdiction with the intent to circumvent fiscal, social or other legal obligations in the country of origin or created another entity with this purpose (including if done by persons having powers of representation, decision-making or control, beneficial owners or persons who are essential for the award/implementation of the grant).
- Applicants will also be refused if it turns out that:
- during the award procedure they misrepresented information required as a condition for participating or failed to supply that information
- they were previously involved in the preparation of the call and this entails a distortion of competition that cannot be remedied otherwise (conflict of interest).
For more information, visit European Commission.