This EU Directive secures the return of national treasures of artistic, historic or archaeological value that have been unlawfully removed from the territory of a Member State once controls have been abolished at internal frontiers.
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ACT
Council Directive 93/7/EEC of 15 March 1993 on the return of cultural objects unlawfully removed from the territory of a Member State.
SUMMARY
The purpose of the Directive is to ensure the return of cultural objects classed as “national treasures possessing artistic, historic or archaeological value” under national legislation or administrative procedures, provided that they:
- fall within one of the categories listed in the Annex to the Directive;
- form an integral part of public collections recorded in the inventories of museums, archives or libraries or those of ecclesiastical institutions.
To apply the Directive, Member States may class an object as a national treasure even after it has left their territory. They may also extend the scope of application to cultural objects that do not belong to any of the categories listed in the Annex.
The Directive applies where such objects have been removed from the territory of a Member State unlawfully, i.e. in breach of the legislation in force there or of the conditions under which temporary authorisation was granted. Consequently the objects must be returned, irrespective of whether they have been moved within the Community or first exported to a non-member country and then re-imported to another Member State.
The Directive applies only to cultural objects unlawfully removed from the territory of a Member State on or after 1 January 1993. However, Member States may broaden the scope to include objects which have been unlawfully removed from their territory before 1 January 1993.
Each Member State shall appoint one or more authorities to carry out the tasks provided for in the Directive. The Commission shall from time to time publish the list of these authorities in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Administrative cooperation for the amicable return of objects
The central authorities of each Member State shall cooperate and promote consultation between the other Member States’ competent national authorities to try to ensure the return of the cultural object. The central authorities must:
- seek a specified cultural object which has been unlawfully removed from a Member State’s territory, identifying the possessor and/or holder;
- notify the Member State concerned, where a cultural object is found in their own territory and there are grounds for believing that it has been unlawfully removed from the territory of another Member State;
- enable the Member State to check that the object in question is a cultural object covered by the Directive, within two months of the notification;
- take any necessary measures for the physical preservation of the cultural object;
- prevent any action to evade the return procedure;
- act as intermediary between the possessor or holder of the object and the requesting Member State.
Initiation of proceedings before a court for return of objects
Only the courts of the requested Member State * have the power to order the object’s return to the requesting Member State if the possessor or holder should refuse to release it. The burden of proof is governed by the legislation of the requested Member State.
Only a Member State may initiate proceedings with the aim of securing the return of a cultural object. Private owners of cultural objects may only bring proceedings provided for under ordinary law.
Return proceedings may not be brought more than one year after the requesting Member State becomes aware of the location of the cultural object and the identity of its possessor or holder. To be admissible, the application must be accompanied by:
- a document describing the object covered by the request and stating that it is a cultural object within the meaning of the Directive;
- a declaration by the competent authorities of the requesting Member State that the cultural object has been unlawfully removed from its territory.
- Such proceedings may in any case not be brought more than 30 years after the object is unlawfully removed from the territory of the requesting Member State, except in the case of objects forming part of public collections or ecclesiastical goods in respect of which the time-limit is governed by national legislation or bilateral agreements between Member States.
This Directive is without prejudice to any civil or criminal proceedings that may be brought, under the national law of the Member States, by the requesting Member State or the owner of the object.
Financial aspects
When the return of a cultural object is ordered, if the possessor proves that he exercised all due care when acquiring the object he is entitled to fair compensation. This compensation is to be paid by the requesting Member State, which may, however, claim reimbursement from the persons responsible for the unlawful removal of the object. Following the object’s return, the question of its ownership is governed by the legislation of the requesting Member State.
Implementation
The Advisory Committee on Cultural Goods provided for by Regulation (EEC) No 3911/92 on the export of cultural goods shall assist the Commission in examining any matter relating to the application of the Annex to the Directive.
The Member States shall send the Commission a report every three years on the application of the Directive, starting in February 1996. The Commission shall then publish a report reviewing the application of the Directive.
Background
This Directive is aimed at reconciling the operation of the internal market with the guarantee that Member States can protect cultural objects with the status of national treasures of artistic, historic or archaeological value. It complements Article 30 of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community. This Article provides for the possibility of imposing prohibitions or restrictions on imports, exports or goods in transit to guarantee Member States the possibility of protecting these types of objects, notwithstanding the provisions on the free movement of goods.
Key terms used in the act
‘Requesting Member State’: the Member State from whose territory the cultural object has been unlawfully removed.
‘Requested Member State’: the Member State in whose territory a cultural object unlawfully removed from the territory of another Member State is located.
‘Possessor’/’Holder’: the person physically holding the cultural object on his own account/for third parties.
REFERENCES
Directive 93/7/EEC
Date of entry: 27.3.1993
Deadline for transposition in the Member States: 15.12.1993 (15.3.1994 for Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands)
Official Journal: OJ L 74 of 27.3.1993
Amending acts:
Act – Entry into force – Deadline for transposition in the Member States – Official Journal
Directive 96/100/EC – 21.3.1997 – 1.9.1997 – OJ L 60 of 1.3.1997
Directive 2001/38/EC – 30.7.2001 – 31.12.2001 – OJ L 187 of 10.7.2001
RELATED ACTS
Council Resolution of 21 January 2002 on the Commission report on the implementation of Regulation (EEC) No 3911/92 on the export of cultural goods and Directive 93/7/EEC on the return of cultural objects unlawfully removed from the territory of a Member State [Official Journal C 32 of 5.2.2002].
The Council takes note of the Commission’s initiatives, calls on the Member States to cooperate more closely among themselves and with the Commission, and asks the Commission to pursue the initiatives launched and pay particular attention to Regulation (EEC) No 3911/92 and Directive 93/7/EEC when the candidate countries join the EU.
Reports
Report from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament and the European Economic and Social Committee of 21 December 2005, “Second report on the application of Council Directive 93/7/EEC on the return of cultural objects unlawfully removed from the territory of a Member State” [COM(2005) 675 final – Not published in the Official Journal].
This report covers the application of the Directive during the period 1999-2003. It reveals that the Directive has been applied in only a small handful of cases. The Member States have reported five amicable returns and three legal proceedings for returns. These rather low figures highlight serious shortcomings in administrative cooperation and consultation between the national central authorities. To remedy these shortcomings, the Commission will examine to what extent the recommendations set out in the guidelines adopted by the Advisory Committee on Cultural Goods for improving administrative cooperation have been acted upon.
Member States consider insufficient the time limit of one year for initiating proceedings for the return of cultural objects. Subject to the outcome of consultations with the Advisory Committee on Cultural Goods, the Commission proposes extending this time-limit to three years.
Concerning the financial thresholds applicable to cultural objects covered by Directive 93/7/EEC, the report reveals contradictory opinions between Member States as to whether these should be raised or lowered. The Commission does not therefore intend to propose amending the thresholds.
In view of the limited number of cases of application of Directive 93/7/EEC, the Commission suggests that the obligation to produce a report every three years be scrapped. The Advisory Committee on Cultural Goods must give its opinion on this.
Report from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament and the Economic and Social Committee of 25 May 2000 on the implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 3911/92 on the export ofcultural goods, and Council Directive 93/7/EEC on the return of cultural objects unlawfully removed from the territory of a Member State [COM (2000) 325 final – Not published in the Official Journal].
This report states that the measures listed have made Member States and international traders aware of the need to improve protection for cultural goods at European level. However, it recognises that the measures have had a limited influence on the fight against illegal trade in cultural goods. It points out that laying down a structure for administrative cooperation and for information to be exchanged between the relevant authorities could improve the application of the Directive and the Regulation.
The report contains lists of the customs offices empowered to handle formalities for the export of cultural goods, the authorities empowered to issue export licences for cultural goods and the central authorities responsible for implementing the provisions of Council Directive 93/7/EEC. These lists have been published in the Official Journal [Official Journals C 61 of 03.03.2000, C 18 of 21.01.2000 and C 76 of 16.03.1996].
List of the central authorities nominated by the Member States to deal with the return of cultural objects unlawfully removed from a Member State, published pursuant to Article 3 of Council Directive 93/7/EEC.
Official Journal C 180 of 26.06.2001;
Official Journal C 130 of 04.06.2003;
Official Journal C 212 of 21.08.2004.
