Repatriation of illegally removed national treasures
30 May 2013by eub2 -- last modified 30 May 2013
The European Commission is taking new action to help Member States recover national treasures which have been unlawfully removed from their territory.
Advertisement
The Commission has proposed to strengthen the possibility for
restitution available to Member States, since the current legislation is
not proving sufficiently effective in achieving the recovery of
unlawfully removed national treasures.
The changes would ensure
that more cultural goods will be recovered, the deadline for restitution
claims will be extended, any possessor of an object requiring
compensation for returning the object would be required to prove it was
not knowingly acquired illegally, and information sharing between
national authorities on the movement of culturally significant objects
will be improved.
The loss of cultural objects, classified as
"national treasures of artistic, historic or archaeological value" is a
particularly severe form of illicit trafficking of cultural property. It
deprives citizens of their history and identity and endangers the
preservation of Member States' cultural heritage.
Proposals to strengthen recovery of unlawfully removed cultural goods
The
proposed modifications would apply to cultural goods classified as
"national treasures" unlawfully removed after 1993 that are now located
on the territory of another Member State.
The current EU law should be strengthened by:
- Extending the scope of the definition of cultural goods. It should include all cultural goods classified as "national treasures of artistic, historic or archaeological value" in accordance with the laws or administrative procedures of the countries of the EU
- Extending the deadline for initiating return proceedings in the courts of the country where the property is now located, for use by Member States that have suffered the loss of property
- Using the internal market information system to facilitate administrative cooperation and information exchanges between national authorities.
- Placing the burden of proof on the possessor (if compensation is sought). Where return of the object is ordered by the national court, if the possessors seek compensation for giving up the good in question, they will be required to prove that, at the time of its acquisition, they exercised due care and attention to ascertain the legal origin of the cultural good.
Next steps
The
proposal to update the Directive will now be discussed by the European
Parliament and the Council. Once it has been adopted, Member States will
have one year to comply with the new provisions.
Background
Illegal
trafficking of cultural goods covers a wide range of activities ranging
from the unlawful removal of cultural property without compulsory
permission, to trade in stolen goods. It is often the result of
organised crime, particularly in an internal market without borders with
a significant cultural and historical heritage.
The current
Council Directive 93/7/EEC was adopted to ensure the return of cultural
goods classified as "national treasures possessing artistic, historic or
archaeological value" and belonging to the categories referred to in
its Annex or forming an integral part of public collections or
inventories of ecclesiastical institutions. The Annex contains a list of
different categories of cultural goods that qualify for return to their
native Member State, listed by age and by a certain value or financial
threshold (e.g. archaeological objects more than 100 years old, pictures
and paintings executed by hand more than 50 years old and with a value
of €150 000).
National reports and Commission evaluations
indicate that the Directive is rarely used and is of limited effect.
Currently it neither sufficiently deters criminals who specifically
target cultural property nor prevents trafficking in cultural objects of
unknown provenance.
Current Directive on the return of cultural objects unlawfully removed
Further information, European Commission