Strasbourg, 27/09/2006 (Agence Europe) - In its adoption of two reports by Agustin Diaz de Mera Garcia Consuegra (EPP-ED, Spain) the Parliament has approved the proposal of the Commission recommending that the Community programme Pericles be extended. These two very brief reports support the extension of decision 2001/923/EC and the extension of its application to the non-participant Member States. The multiannual Pericles programme for exchanges, assistance and training for the protection of the euro against counterfeiting had already been extended for one year and given a financial envelope of one million EUR for 2006. As per the Commission's proposal, the Parliament now supports the extension of the programme until 31 December 2013, in order to bring it into line with the calendar of the financial perspectives. The annual budget of one million EUR remains unchanged, which means that this prorogation corresponds to a total budget of 7 million EUR.
In a report of May 2006, the Commission paints a satisfactory picture of the implementation of the programme, which has made a valuable contribution to the fight against counterfeiting. With an overall level of commitment of 80% of the initial reference value during the period 2007-2006, split between 64 projects covering no fewer than 76 countries, Pericles has fulfilled the objectives assigned to it. Taking note of the systematic involvement of the ECB, Europol and other European organisations in the programme, the report still suggests a few changes to increase the involvement of other sectors than law enforcement, such as the banking sector, chambers of commerce and the legal profession.