Professional cross-border transportation of euro cash by road between euro-area Member States

The Commission presented a report on the implementation of Regulation (EU) No 1214/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 November 2011 on the professional cross-border transport of euro cash by road between Member States in the euro area.

The report assesses whether Regulation (EU) No 1214/2011 needs to be revised, examining in particular:

• the possibility of establishing common training requirements for the carrying of arms by security staff of cash-in-transit ('CIT') companies ;
• the possibility of amending Article 24 of the Regulation in the light of Directive 96/71/EC on the remuneration of conveyors of funds;
• technological progress in the area of intelligent banknote neutralisation systems (IBNS);
• consider the potential added value of granting Union CIT licences on a group basis.

The main conclusions of the report are as follows :

• there is currently no need for common training requirements for the carrying of arms by CIT staff given the diversity of national rules for the carrying of firearms;
• Article 24 on remuneration should not be amended given the proposed revision of Directive 97/71/EC on the posting of workers in the context of the provision of services to combat unfair practices;
• no major technological change likely to lead to a revision of Regulation (EU) No 1214/2011 has taken place in the field of IBNS: staining devices are the most commonly used IBNS technologies and should remain the preferred technology on the market in the coming years;
• lastly, there is no need for a licensing system for each group: Member States’ authorities have not come across any particular problems in connection with the issuance of cross-border licences. Licensing by group would result in a lack of monitoring and control by the cash carriers and would complicate the verification measures in place.

Better use of the potential for cross-border transport of funds: the fact that to date only 25 cross-border transport licences have been granted for a zone of 14 participating Member States shows that the potential of the Regulation is still untapped. Not much cross-border transport seems to be taking place.

With a view to improving the application of the Regulation and to permit the granting of more cross-border licences for the transport of funds, the Commission suggests simplifying the definition of cross-border transport and applying the “Member State of origin principle” to the means of transport. Several interested parties have sought to call into question the principle of the host Member State because it creates barriers to the market which, in their view, cannot be justified on grounds of safety.

Recommendations: participating Member States are recommended to:

• put procedures in place to get a better overview on cross-border CIT transport actually taking place in their territory. Better data would contribute to the discussion of possible legislative changes;
• deploy a wider range of applicable transport arrangements provided for by the Regulation on their territory in order to enhance the potential of cross-border CIT transport.

In addition, an information campaign targeting stakeholders on the demand side of cash (banks, supermarkets, retailers) and money transport companies to encourage greater use of matching transport arrangements should be carried out to contribute to the efficiency of the Regulation and increase the number of CIT licences.

No later than the date of the next review, i.e. 1 December 2021, the Commission must carry out an impact assessment with a view to introducing possible legislative improvements to Regulation (EU) No 1214/2011.