EuropaFi – the Banque de France subsidiary dedicated to banknote paper production

With the Banque de France and other European central banks as shareholders, EuropaFi was created to strengthen the public component of banknote paper production within the Eurosystem. It provides its shareholders and external clients with technical expertise in banknote and security papers, and ensures they have a regular and reliable supply. It also acts as a paper test centre for the Eurosystem, carrying out tests and quality controls and supplying specific batches of paper.

4,750

EuropaFi's annual banknote paper production capacity in tonnes, enabling it to meet the needs of its shareholders and external clients

50%+

EuropaFi is the Eurosystem’s leading banknote paper producer, accounting for more than 50% of the euro area's total banknote paper production

30

EuropaFi also produces banknote paper for some 30 countries outside the euro area

EuropaFi's paper offering : technology, security and innovation

EuropaFi has a three-format cylinder-mould machine and supplies banknote and security paper in reels or sheets. The paper mill produces a wide range of paper products to meet the needs of the security and banknote paper market. EuropaFi is able to incorporate all of the market's most common security features and has a manufacturing department that is responsive to clients' needs. EuropaFi also offers a range of papers tailored to its clients’ circulation conditions, thanks to the LongerFit® and EverFit® solutions developed by the Banque de France. It is accredited by the European Central Bank, and is ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001 and ISO 37001 certified.

State-of-the-art equipment for quality and safety

The paper mill has been fully modernised since 2015 and now has a new building, renovated workshops and a new strong room. New equipment has also been installed:

an automated machine for embossing and welding wires for the production of watermark mould covers
a latest generation Voith-Allimand paper machine
a foil and iridescent application machine (silk screen printing and hot-stamping) equipped with the latest motorisation and speed-control technology
a Pasaban cross-cutting machine

All the equipment has on-board quality control systems, enabling visual defects to be detected, the physical characteristics of the paper to be measured and security features to be checked at every stage of production. In terms of traceability, each sheet is numbered on the paper machine and tracked across all stages of production, right through to dispatch.