The thread on mail fraud, in which several people brought up the distinction between “State” and “Federal” crimes in the US, made me curious about something.
With the Euro being commonly accepted in several countries, under what authority / criminal code is a Euro counterfeiter tried? It would seem to create problems if they were tried under the justice system of the country they actually committed the crime in - does the acceptance of the Euro entail some agreement concerning enforcement of counterfeiting laws? Does it introduce a jurisprudential authority spanning countries for specific crimes concerning the Euro?
More generally, it seems to me that introduction of powers vested in the European Union might eventually make Europe look more like the US, with two levels of government administering justice, and exercising various other forms of authority. Comments?
How does administration the European Union get funded?
Historically, the US Federal government has made extensive use of the right to regulate interstate commerce to extend their control. That, and holding the purse strings on Federal money issued to the states (the 55 limit in the 70’s, for instance - “play ball, or we’ll cut off your highway funds”).
Is Europe headed in this direction?
(I suspect this may be a GD. Move it if you will).
The European Court of Justice has had supra-national power for decades, long before the Euro came about. It is the court of the European Union (and the preceding European Communities) and has made far reaching judgements on free-trade issues among other things. These judgements take precedence over those of national courts and must be regarded as national law.
However (IMHO) I think the counterfeiting is probably amply covered by the criminal law systems of the countries concerned.
NB don’t confuse the European Court of Justice with the European Court of Human Rights; the latter is the court of the European Convention of Human Rights, which is a completely separate organisation with a much larger membership.
I’ve no clue about counterfeited money.
Concerning the EU budget it is funded mainly by a fraction of the VAT collected by the member states and by a contribution based on each country GNP. The are also some secondary ressources based on trade and agriculture taxes.
By the way, it’s not just that these countries “accept” the Euro; the Euro is their currency. There are no longer any Deutchmarks, French or Belgian Francs or Irish Punts.
The UK and Denmark accept the Euro but still use their own currencies for most things. Off the top of my head I can’t remember which are the other one or two countries that haven’t introduced the Euro.
The EU is a very tight union, but it’s getting more complicated. There are the Shengen (sp?) countries between which there is completely free travel, and the Euro zone. Ireland is in the latter but not the former, the UK is in neither. However a citizen of any EU country (including the UK) can live or work indefinitely without a visa in any other EU country.
Sweden is the third EU country that doesn’t use the Euro.
** G. Odoreida ** What do you mean by that Denmark and UK are accepting the euro? I don’t think you can pay with it everywhere in those countries. You certainly can’t in Sweden. Bigger warehouses and shops may accept them but they accept US Dollars and some other currencies also.
I don’t know about Denmark, but the UK certainly doesn’t accept the Euro; some businesses that will take foreign currencies might, but this has always been the case in any country.
The Pound isn’t merely used for most things - it is used as default, since it Britain’s only currency!
Many stores around London accept Euro’s - they aren’t obliged too but it’s just good business practice.
I don’t understand how the legal position apropos counterfeiting would have changed at all since the introduction of the Euro – if anything, I’d imagine it might pay counterfeiters to look at which of the 12 countries has the least severe sentencing and locate there…or do it in Eastern Europe.
If that’s what G. Odoreida meant by “the UK…accept[s] the Euro”, then fair enough. I thought he was saying that the currency is generally accepted alongside the Pound, rather than it is taken by some businesses alongside other foreign currencies. It’s only a small point, but I’d hate some European tourist to jet over to England with a fist-full of Euros thinking that they could spend them wherever they pleased!
As to counterfeiting, I shouldn’t think any law changes or additional EU powers would be needed to combat counterfeiters. It doesn’t matter where the notes are printed, or where they are passed; individual nations will have the power to punish the counterfeiters.
If I tried to pass counterfeit Dollars in London, a legal agreement wouldn’t have to be set up between London and Washington to punish me.
To answer the specific question in the OP, the counterfeiting of Euros was outlawed under Regulation No 1338/2001 of the Council of the European Union. Its provisions are binding on all the member states, not just those which are part of the Eurozone. Although, for obvious reasons, Europol is expected to take the lead in coordinating any criminal investigations, prosecutions are brought by individual countries in their own national courts.
On the broader question, the distinction between EU law and the laws of the member states is not quite the same as the distinction between federal and state law in the US. EU law is part of the law of the member states and will (or should) be policed by the national authorities, enforced by the national courts, and so forth. For the most part it is not necessary to go to the European Court of Justice in order to enforce EU law - the national courts will do this, referring questions to the ECJ only if they are unsure of what EU law requires of them in any particular case.
Counterfeiting the Euro is also illegal by the laws of each of the participating states, because they have made the euro their national currency. It is illegal to forge the national currency of each of our countries, so a counterfeiter will be prosecuted by our own legal systems. There is no need for Europol or for the European coourts to get involved.
BTW there is a very easy way to remember which countries of the EU have adopted the euro. Remember the Baffling Pigs and the Ducks. This is the mnemonic that bankers in Ireland have learned to help in advising on currencies.
The Baffling Pigs adopted the euro -
B - Belgium
A - Austria
F - France
F - Finland
L - Luxembourg
I - Ireland
N - Netherlands
G - Germany
P - Portugal
I - Italy
G - Greece
S - Spain
The Ducks have not - D UK S
D - Denmark
UK
S - Sweden
It’s also a handy mnemonic for all the current fifteen members of the EU.