L181/6 Official Journal of the European Communities 4.7.2001 (Acts whose publication is obligatory) COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 1338/2001 of 28 June 2001 laying down measures necessary for the protection of the euro against counterfeiting THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular the third sentence of Article 123(4) thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission ('), Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (%), Having regard to the opinion of the European Central Bank (%), Whereas: 1) Council Regulation (EC) No 974/98 of 3 May 1998 on the introduction of the euro (%), provides for euro notes to be put into circulation by the European Central Bank (ECB) and by the national central banks (NCB) of the participating Member States and for euro coins to be put into circulation by the participating Member States from 1 January 2002; a system for protecting the euro against counterfeiting must therefore be adopted rapidly so that it can be operational before euro notes and coins are put into circulation. The arrangements put in place by the Council Act of 26 July 1995 drawing up the Convention on the establish- ment of a European Police Office (Europol Conven- tion) (°) and by the Council Decision of 29 April 1999 extending Europol's mandate to deal with forgery of money and means of payment (°) are designed to combat counterfeiting in general. In its framework Decision of 29 May 2000 on increasing protection by criminal penalties and other sanctions against counterfeiting in connection with the introduction of the euro (), the Council adopted provi- sions to ensure that the euro is protected in an appro- priate way by effective measures under criminal law. () O] C 337 E, 28.11.2000, p. 264. (¥ Opinion delivered on 3 May 2001 (not yet published in the Official Journal). () O] C 19, 20.1.2001, p. 18. () OJ L 139, 11.5.1998, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regula- tion (EC) No 2596/2000 (O] L 300, 29.11.2000, p. 2.) () O] C 316, 27.11.1995, p. 1. (®) O] C 149, 28.5.1999 p. 16 and corrigendum in O] C 229, 12.8.1999, p. 14. () O L 140, 14.6.2000, p. 1. (4) Measures to protect the euro against counterfeiting concern the Community as part of its responsibility in respect of the single currency; the legal protection of the euro cannot be satisfactorily ensured by the individual Member States alone, since euro notes and coins will circulate beyond the territories of the participating Member States. It is therefore necessary to adopt Community legislation defining the measures necessary for euro notes and coins to circulate in the proper conditions to ensure the overall effective and consistent protection of the euro against activities likely to jeopar- dise its credibility, and thus to adopt appropriate meas- ures so that everything is ready in good time before 1 January 2002. For the purposes of applying this Regulation it is neces- sary to define or to take over the existing definitions of certain concepts such as euro counterfeiting, technical and statistical data and the national authorities competent for research inter alia with a view to the gathering and analysis of data concerning counterfeiting, including the central offices provided for in Article 12 of the Geneva Convention. It should be ensured that the technical and statistical data collected by the competent national authorities regarding counterfeit euro notes and coins and as far as possible unauthorised notes are communicated to the ECB while allowing the competent national authorities and, in accordance with its responsibilities, the Commis- sion, to have access to such data. It is also envisaged that Europol will have access to such data on the basis of an agreement between it and the ECB. The counterfeiting analysis centre (CAC) established and managed under the auspices of the ECB, in accordance with its Guideline (%), centralises the classification and analysis of technical data relating to counterfeit notes. (¥) European Central Bank Guideline of 26 August 1998 on certain provisions regarding euro banknotes, as amended on 26 August 1999 (O] L 258, 510.1999, p. 32).