Europol PEX (Project Ester)
Definition
Europol's coordination framework for EUR counterfeit currency intelligence across EU member states, linked to the ECB's Counterfeit Monitoring System (CMS) and the CUIS counterfeiting source identification system.
- Operator
- Europol
- Focus
- EUR counterfeit currency intelligence coordination
- Linked system
- ECB Counterfeit Monitoring System (CMS)
- Related system
- CUIS counterfeiting source identification
Common questions
How does Project Ester connect Europol's role to the ECB's counterfeit data?+
It provides the cross-border law enforcement coordination layer that draws on and feeds into the ECB's Counterfeit Monitoring System, linking the currency-authenticity data the central bank collects with the criminal intelligence Europol analyses across member states.
What is the purpose of the CUIS system within this framework?+
CUIS focuses on identifying the source, such as the specific printing plates or production batch, behind counterfeit euro notes, complementing PEX's broader intelligence-coordination role by tracing counterfeits back to their manufacturing origin.
Why is a dedicated EU-level framework needed for euro counterfeiting rather than leaving it to individual countries?+
Because the euro is a shared currency circulating across many jurisdictions, counterfeit notes produced in one country routinely surface in others, so a centralised coordination framework prevents fragmented, duplicated national investigations into what is often the same production network.
Related terms
- BOPP (Biaxially Oriented Polypropylene)
- The polymer film substrate for polymer-substrate banknotes (Australia, New Zealand, UK, Canada). Distinguished from cotton-linen paper notes by FTIR-ATR (CH3 methyl peaks...
- FICN (Fake Indian Currency Notes)
- Counterfeit Indian banknotes, especially high-denomination ₹500 and ₹2000 notes. High-quality FICN (sometimes called 'super FICN') is coordinated under NIA investigation and intelligence...
- Fluorescent Security Ink
- An ink visible only under UV illumination at a specific wavelength (typically 365 nm), used to print denomination numerals, flag motifs, and...
- Goniospectrophotometry
- A spectrophotometric technique that measures reflectance spectra at multiple illumination and viewing angle combinations simultaneously, enabling quantitative characterisation of OVI colour-shift profiles...
- Intaglio Printing
- A high-pressure printing process in which ink is forced into engraved recesses in a steel plate and transferred to paper, producing a...
- Optically Variable Ink (OVI)
- An ink containing thin-film interference flakes (metal + dielectric layers, manufactured by SICPA and others) that produce a visible colour shift with...
- Security Thread
- A strip of metallised biaxially-oriented PET film embedded in the paper substrate, alternating between visible (windowed) and embedded segments. May carry magnetic...
- SICPA OVI
- Optically variable ink technology commercialised by SICPA Security Inks and Coatings SA, Lausanne. Each flake is a vacuum-deposited Al / dielectric (MgF2...
- USSS Counterfeit Division
- The division of the United States Secret Service responsible for counterfeit currency investigation, including 'supernote' investigations attributed to DPRK and Iranian state-sponsored...