Directive 2014/60/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 on the return of cultural objects unlawfully removed from the territory of a Member State and amending Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012 (Recast) (Text with EEA relevance)

• Published date: 28 May 2014
• Subject Matter: cultura,culture
• Official Gazette Publication: Diario Oficial de la Unión Europea, L 159, 28 de mayo de 2014,Gazzetta ufficiale dell'Unione europea, L 159, 28 maggio 2014,Journal officiel de l'Union européenne, L 159, 28 mai 2014

2014L0060 — EN — 28.05.2014 — 000.001

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►B ▼C1 DIRECTIVE 2014/60/EU OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 15 May 2014 on the return of cultural objects unlawfully removed from the territory of a Member State and amending Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012 (Recast) (Text with EEA relevance) ▼B (OJ L 159 28.5.2014, p. 1)

Corrected by:

►C1 Corrigendum, OJ L 147, 12.6.2015, p. 24 (2014/60/EU)

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▼B

▼C1

DIRECTIVE 2014/60/EU OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

of 15 May 2014

on the return of cultural objects unlawfully removed from the territory of a Member State and amending Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012 (Recast)

(Text with EEA relevance)

▼B

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 114 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments,

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure ( 1 ),

Whereas:

(1) Council Directive 93/7/EEC ( 2 ) has been substantially amended by Directives 96/100/EC ( 3 ) and 2001/38/EC ( 4 ) of the European Parliament and of the Council. Since further amendments are to be made, it should be recast in the interests of clarity.

(2) The internal market comprises an area without internal frontiers in which the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital is ensured in accordance with the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). According to Article 36 TFEU, the relevant provisions on free movement of goods do not preclude prohibitions or restrictions on imports, exports or goods in transit, justified on grounds of the protection of national treasures possessing artistic, historic or archaeological value.

(3) Under the terms and within the limits of Article 36 TFEU, Member States retain the right to define their national treasures and to take the necessary measures to protect them. Nevertheless, the Union plays a valuable role in encouraging cooperation between Member States with a view to protecting cultural heritage of European significance, to which such national treasures belong.

(4) Directive 93/7/EEC introduced arrangements enabling Member States to secure the return to their territory of cultural objects which are classified as national treasures within the meaning of Article 36 TFEU, which fall within the common categories of cultural objects referred to in the Annex to that Directive, and which have been removed from their territory in breach of the national measures or of Council Regulation (EC) No 116/2009 ( 5 ). That Directive also covered cultural objects classified as national treasures and forming an integral part of public collections or inventories of ecclesiastical institutions which did not fall within those common categories.

(5) Directive 93/7/EEC established administrative cooperation between Member States as regards their national treasures, closely linked to their cooperation with Interpol and other competent bodies in the field of stolen works of art and involving, in particular, the recording of lost, stolen or illegally removed cultural objects forming part of their national treasures and their public collections.

(6) The procedure provided for in Directive 93/7/EEC was a first step in establishing cooperation between Member States in this field in the context of the internal market, with the aim of further mutual recognition of relevant national laws.

(7) Regulation (EC) No 116/2009, together with Directive 93/7/EEC, introduced a Union system for the protection of Member States' cultural objects.

(8) The objective of Directive 93/7/EEC was to ensure the physical return of the cultural objects to the Member State from whose territory those objects have been unlawfully removed, irrespective of the property rights applying to such objects. The application of that Directive, however, has shown the limitations of the arrangements for securing the return of such cultural objects. The reports on the application of that Directive have pointed out its infrequent application due in particular to the limitation of its scope, which resulted from the conditions set out in the Annex to that Directive, the short period of time allowed to initiate return proceedings and the costs associated with return proceedings.

(9) The scope of this Directive should be extended to any cultural object classified or defined by a Member State under national legislation or administrative procedures as a national treasure possessing artistic, historic or archaeological value within the meaning of Article 36 TFEU. This Directive should thus cover objects of historical, paleontological, ethnographic, numismatic interest or scientific value, whether or not they form part of public or other collections or are single items, and whether they originate from regular or clandestine excavations, provided that they are classified or defined as national treasures. Furthermore, cultural objects classified or defined as national treasures should no longer have to belong to categories or comply with thresholds related to their age and/or financial value in order to qualify for return under this Directive.

(10) The diversity of national arrangements for protecting national treasures is recognised in Article 36 TFEU. In order to foster mutual trust, a willingness to cooperate and mutual understanding between Member States, the scope of the term ‘national treasure’ should be determined, in the framework of Article 36 TFEU. Member States should also facilitate the return of cultural objects to the Member State from whose territory those objects have been unlawfully removed regardless of the date of accession of that Member State, and should ensure that the return of such objects does not give rise to unreasonable costs. It should be possible for Member States to return cultural objects other than those classified or defined as national treasures provided that they respect the relevant provisions of the TFEU, as well as cultural objects unlawfully removed before 1 January 1993.

(11) The administrative cooperation between Member States needs to be increased so that this Directive can be applied more effectively and uniformly. Therefore, the central authorities should be required to cooperate efficiently with each other and to exchange information relating to unlawfully removed cultural objects through the use of the Internal Market Information System (‘IMI’) provided for by Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 6 ). In order to improve the implementation of this Directive, a module of the IMI system specifically customised for cultural objects should be established. It is also desirable for other competent authorities of the Member States to use the same system, where appropriate.

(12) In order to ensure the protection of personal data, administrative cooperation and the exchange of information between the competent authorities should comply with the rules set out in Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 7 ), and, in so far as the IMI is used, in Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012. The definitions used in Directive 95/46/EC and in Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 8 ) should also apply for the purposes of this Directive.

(13) The time-limit for checking whether the cultural object found in another Member State is a cultural object within the meaning of Directive 93/7/EEC was identified as being too short in practice. Therefore, it should be extended to six months. A longer period should allow Member States to take the necessary measures to preserve the cultural object and, where appropriate, prevent any action to evade the return procedure.

(14) The time-limit for bringing return proceedings should also be extended to three years after the Member State from whose territory the cultural object was unlawfully removed became aware of the location of the cultural object and of the identity of its possessor or holder. The extension of this period should facilitate the return and discourage the illegal removal of national treasures. In the interest of clarity, it should be stipulated that the time-limit for bringing proceedings begins on the date on which the information came to the knowledge of the central authority of the Member State from whose territory the cultural object was unlawfully removed.

(15) Directive 93/7/EEC provided that return proceedings may not be brought more than 30 years after the object was unlawfully removed from the territory of the Member State. However, in the case of objects forming part of public collections and of objects belonging to inventories of ecclesiastical institutions in the Member States where they are subject to special protection arrangements under national law, return proceedings are subject to a longer time-limit under certain circumstances. Due to the fact that Member States may have special protection arrangements under national law with religious institutions other than ecclesiastical ones, this Directive should also extend to those other religious institutions.

(16) In its Conclusions on preventing and combating crime against cultural goods adopted on 13 and 14 December 2011, the Council recognised the need to take measures in order to make preventing and combating crime concerning cultural objects more effective. It recommended that the Commission

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