Interpol and police forces from outside the EU are to attend the first international conference on protecting the euro against counterfeiting in the Netherlands next month.

The conference, which has been organised by EU police agency Europol and the European Central Bank (ECB), came as Interpol warned that fake euros had been seized in “EU neighbouring countries and almost all countries with important finance markets and well-known tourist destinations.”

EU statistics show that in July to December last year, 265,000 circulating notes were seized, compared with 300,000 in January to June.

More than 540 suspects were arrested in 2006, compared to 337 the previous year, and more than 550,000 fake euro notes were seized before release into circulation, more than double the previous year.