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Document 92003E002580
WRITTEN QUESTION E-2580/03 by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Expectations of an increase in the production of counterfeit euro bank notes in thinly-populated countries where the euro is important as a parallel currency.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-2580/03 by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Expectations of an increase in the production of counterfeit euro bank notes in thinly-populated countries where the euro is important as a parallel currency.
WRITTEN QUESTION E-2580/03 by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Expectations of an increase in the production of counterfeit euro bank notes in thinly-populated countries where the euro is important as a parallel currency.
OJ C 33E, 6.2.2004, p. 273–273
(ES, DA, DE, EL, EN, FR, IT, NL, PT, FI, SV)
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6.2.2004 |
EN |
Official Journal of the European Union |
CE 33/273 |
(2004/C 33 E/283)
WRITTEN QUESTION E-2580/03
by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission
(6 August 2003)
Subject: Expectations of an increase in the production of counterfeit euro bank notes in thinly-populated countries where the euro is important as a parallel currency
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1. |
Can the Commission confirm that, to date, the production of counterfeit money in the euro zone has been concentrated in thinly-populated areas in France and Spain and that this has resulted in losses of EUR 16 million for consumers and business? |
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2. |
Do new technologies where, for example, computer printers replace offset presses increase the potential for producing counterfeit bank notes which are difficult to distinguish from genuine ones, despite the use of watermarks, holograms and metal strips? |
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3. |
What is current ratio of counterfeit euros to the other widely used currency, the US dollar? Is the counterfeiting of euros moving towards the dollar level? |
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4. |
Does the Commission share Europol's expectation that the combination of the enlargement of EU territory and easily crossed frontiers, together with the increasingly important role of the euro as a parallel currency in countries with low incomes and high unemployment, increases the likelihood of a sharp increase in the near future of the production of counterfeit euros in thinly-populated areas and the transport thereof to densely-populated areas? |
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5. |
How will the Commission duly protect consumers and business in the future from the risk that they may unwittingly come into the possession of counterfeit bank notes which, on discovery, will not have the face value ascribed to them when they were accepted? |
Source: The 18 July 2003 edition of ‘Rotterdams Dagblad’, a Dutch newspaper.
Answer given by Mrs Schreyer on behalf of the Commission
(18 September 2003)
The Commission is collecting the information it needs to answer the question. It will communicate its findings as soon as possible.