The European Parliament adopted its position on 21 October on Pericles V, the 2028-2034 programme protecting the euro against counterfeiting, by 629 votes to 7 with 31 abstentions. MEPs propose a budget of 7.811 million euros, compared with 7 million in the Commission's proposal. They want the programme to cover AI-assisted forgery, AI tools for investigations and risks to a future digital euro. The text is not final, as negotiations with the Council follow.

What it means: Pericles is a small programme in money terms but an important one, because it funds training, information sharing and cooperation between police, customs, central banks and judicial authorities to fight counterfeiting. Parliament's proposal to include the digital euro makes sense: if the euro gains a digital form, the threats will no longer be only fake banknotes but fake apps, identity fraud and attacks on payment systems. The same applies to artificial intelligence, which makes it easier to produce convincing forgeries and get around detection. The reference also shows that EU institutions are already planning how to oversee and protect the digital euro, even though the regulation itself is still in trilogue negotiations. For Greek retailers and banks, the practical issue today remains checking banknotes at the till, but a shift to digital forms of money will move the risk into the digital space. Staff training and procedures for suspicious transactions will have to adapt accordingly. The programme's final shape will depend on the agreement with member states.

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