Recently, a number of MEPs demanded that the European Central Bank (ECB) stop issuing the 'criminal' €500 banknote. Apart from the money laundering version, the parliamentarians could not provide any more serious arguments, only pointing out that such banknotes are afraid to be accepted in shops and restaurants. ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet explained that the appearance of the €500 banknote at the time was due to the fact that many countries that entered the euro zone previously had banknotes of similar value.
According to experts, the reluctance of sellers to accept €500 banknotes is due to the fear that a fairly rare banknote may turn out to be counterfeit. Although the problem of counterfeit euros does exist, it has nothing to do with the €500 banknote. After all, it is smaller banknotes that are counterfeited. It's a matter of psychology: when receiving a large banknote, a person looks at it for a long time. But more common banknotes of not the highest denomination are subjected to much less careful scrutiny.
In the first half of 2006 alone, 300,000 counterfeit banknotes were seized in the 12 countries of the euro zone, and most of them were in denominations of €20 and €50. The chances of receiving fake euros are highest in France, as well as in Southern European countries. And counterfeit euro banknotes are printed all over the world, according to forensic experts: in Iran, Pakistan, North Korea, Bulgaria, and even Colombia. For most of our compatriots, the problems of Europeans are far away. Our most popular currency remains the dollar.