The Balkan Network for Euro Protection conference started today on Sv. Andrija island off the coast of Rovinj. The conference, organised for the fifth successive time in cooperation with and with the financial support of the European Commission under the Pericles IV programme, gathers 97 experts in fighting currency counterfeiting from 24 countries from the environment, the European Commission, European Central Bank and Europol.

Conference participants were welcomed by Ivana Jakir-Bajo, MSc, CNB Vicegoverner in charge of the Currency Area, and Luca Pierini, deputy head of the Euro Protection and Euro Cash Department of the European Commission Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs. The conference will be moderated by Petra Poldrugač, PhD, director of the National Counterfeit, National Analysis and Coin National Analysis Centres and Martina Skenderović Božičević, PhD, head of the National Analysis and Coin National Analysis Centres.

Conference participants include the representatives of central banks, interior ministries' central offices, state attorney's offices and tax administrations of Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Kosovo^[1], Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain and Turkey. They will be discussing current challenges in combatting currency counterfeiting, focusing on combatting the counterfeiting of the euro, and present recent trends in the appearance and detection of counterfeit euro cash. The accent will be put on efficient methods to prevent and combat the appearance of counterfeit euro cash in EU member states and in third countries that are yet to establish legal and institutional frameworks ensuring the efficiency of the recommended actions.

The conference's first day will center on trends in the fight against counterfeiting in South East Europe and the suppression of the distribution of counterfeit currency and high-quality counterfeiting components via internet platforms.

The second day will be devoted to the transposition of European Union regulations into the national legislations of euro area member states and their implementation. The conference programme also includes actions related to the organisation of institutions whose establishment is mandatory under EU regulations applicable in member states and the building of mutual trust and cooperation between central banks, credit institutions and other entities obligated to withdraw suspect cash from circulation.

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

1. . This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244 (1999) and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence. ↑