Press Release: Establishment of a ‘Steering Group’ and a common inter-institutional strategy for the protection of the euro against counterfeiting

In the last months before the introduction of euro banknotes and coins on 1 January 2002, finalising the establishment of the euro protection system is a priority task. Following a meeting in February 2001 of representatives of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and Europol, an inter-institutional Steering Group has been established. The Steering Group has defined an action plan which will be updated regularly and includes the preparation of a common approach for the protection of the euro against counterfeiting.