CULTURE: EU ACTIONS UNDERWAY TO PREVENT THEFT OF CULTURAL GOODS

EUROPEAN REPORT

More coordinated efforts to ensure the safe return of cultural objects unlawfully removed from the territory of a member state are being stepped up via a variety of measures coordinated at EU level, according to Laszlo Kovacs, the Commissioner in charge of Customs and Taxation. Responding recently to a written question put to the Commission by Danish Socialist MEP Frederika Brepoels expressing concern that the EU executive was not doing enough to safeguard religious artifacts, he outlined measures that have been taken to this end. He also stressed that a new report evaluating how well existing EU legislation in this area has been implemented by member states is due to be published by the end of this year.

BODY:
"There is a general trend in Europe towards the disappearance of monastic, convent and other orders, which gives rise to the question of what happens with their property", Mrs Brepoels stated in her query. "It is very important in this connection to protect the cultural heritage of monasteries, convents and abbeys (archives, works of art, etc.) against being exported abroad."

The EU has adopted two pieces of legislation in the area of protection of cultural objects: Council Regulation 3911/92/EEC of December 9, 1992, on the export of cultural goods and Council Directive 93/7/EEC of March 15, 1993, on the return of cultural objects unlawfully removed from the territory of a member state. "These measures should, in conjunction with the member states' own national measures, be able to prevent valuable cultural objects belonging to monastic or convent orders that have been dissolved from disappearing abroad", Mrs Brepoels said.

Although reports should be presented on these two pieces of legislation every three years, she asked the Commission to confirm that none had been published since 2000, which Mr Kovacs confirmed. She moreover asked what steps the Commission was taking to ensure that a report on the implementation of the Regulation and the Directive is presented soon, and whether the substance of this report would be more relevant and informative than the last one.

Mr Kovacs replied that the Commission is preparing a report assessing the application of Directive 93/7/EEC in the 'old' EU15. "This report will be based on the contributions of the 15 member states concerning the application of the Directive between 1999 and 2003", he explained, adding that it will be presented by the end of 2005 and "will underline the difficulties encountered by member states in its application".

For Regulation 3911/92, he added, data gathering for a new report has just begun and a draft report should be produced by the first half of 2006. As this Regulation relates to the export of cultural goods, he said, "the Commission considered that the incorporation of relevant experience obtained by the new member states was important to ensure a report which also covered the full impact of enlargement and hence provided a longer term perspective on controls in this area".

As was already the case with the last report, published in May 2000 (COM(2000)325), "the substance of both reports will strongly depend on the information provided by member states", he underscored.

Mrs Brepoels also asked what measures the Commission would be taking and whether it could keep Parliament informed of the implementation of initiatives referred to in a Council Resolution of January 21, 2002.

Mr Kovacs responded that the Commission has, since that Resolution was passed, taken a range of measures to safeguard cultural goods. These include:

- The adoption on April 7, 2004, of a Regulation (656/2004) which introduces a new form for the export licence based on international standards for its lay out and provides for improved reporting to the competent authorities for cultural affairs in the member states.

- Monitoring of the correct transposition of Directive 93/7/EEC into national legislation in the new member states, which led to infringement proceedings against some of these member states (one of which is still open) for partial transposition.

- A study on the traceability of cultural goods. The aim of this study was to examine the public systems put in place by the member states to gather, transmit and exchange information about cultural objects in order to identify such objects, in particular during transfer from one member state to another. (The study is published on the website of DG Enterprise at http:/ /europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/regulation/inst_sp/dir937_en.htm)

- Launch of a call for proposals within the 6th Framework Programme for Research concerning research to 'Develop effective methods and tools for identification and traceability of movable cultural goods' in October 2004.

- Financing of a feasibility study on the inclusion of stolen cultural goods into the second generation of the Schengen Information System (SIS II).

- Study of a common data model for a future European stolen cultural goods database, in collaboration with Europol.

- In cooperation with the Commission, Europol organised several training seminars on cultural property crime for the new member states to share best practices.

Apart from the infringement proceedings for insufficient transposition of Directive 93/7/EEC into national legislation, the Commission is not aware of major problems in the implementation of the schemes in place, Mr Kovacs added.

The study on the traceability of cultural goods moreover resulted in suggestions on how to assure a higher level of tracking of cultural goods in Europe when they are transferred from one member state to another. "The Commission will discuss these recommendations with member states in the Advisory Committee for Cultural Goods", he added.

To boost cooperation between member states and the Commission in ensuring cultural diversity, he also recommended that all member states ratify international agreements pursuing this aim such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property of 1970. The Commission will meanwhile promote cooperation among member states by assisting them through reviewing and updating guidelines for administrative cooperation.