# Directive 2014/60/EU of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

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)         

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# 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)                     

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 support Member States in the effective protection of cultural objects with a view to preventing                              and combating trafficking and promoting complementary measures where appropriate. In addition, the Council recommended that                              the Member States consider the ratification of the Unesco Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit                              Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property signed in Paris on 17 November 1970, and the UNIDROIT Convention                              on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects signed in Rome on 24 June 1995.

(17)It is desirable to ensure that all those involved in the market exercise due care and attention in transactions involving                              cultural objects. The consequences of acquiring a cultural object of unlawful origin will only be genuinely dissuasive if                              the payment of compensation is coupled with an obligation on the possessor to prove the exercise of due care and attention.                              Therefore, in order to achieve the Union's objectives of preventing and combating unlawful trafficking in cultural objects,                              this Directive should stipulate that the possessor must provide proof that he exercised due care and attention in acquiring                              the object, for the purpose of compensation.

(18)It would also be useful for any person, and in particular those who are involved in the market, to have easy access to public                              information on cultural objects classified or defined as national treasures by the Member States. Member States should try                              to facilitate access to this public information.

(19)In order to facilitate a uniform interpretation of the concept of due care and attention, this Directive should set out non-exhaustive                              criteria to be taken into account to determine whether the possessor exercised due care and attention when acquiring the cultural                              object.

(20)Since the objective of this Directive, namely to enable the return of cultural objects classified or defined as national treasures                              which have been unlawfully removed from the territory of Member States, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States,                              but can, by reason of its scale and effects, be better achieved at Union level, the Union may adopt measures, in accordance                              with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union. In accordance with the principle                              of proportionality as set out in that Article, this Directive does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve that                              objective.

(21)Since the tasks of the committee set up by Regulation (EC) No 116/2009 are rendered obsolete by the deletion of the Annex                              to Directive 93/7/EEC, references to that committee should be deleted accordingly. However, in order to maintain the platform                              for the exchange of experience and good practices on the implementation of this Directive among Member States, the Commission                              should set up an expert group, composed of experts from the Member States' central authorities responsible for the implementation                              of this Directive, which should be involved, inter alia, in the process of customising a module of the IMI system for cultural                              objects.

(22)Since the Annex to Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012 contains a list of provisions on administrative cooperation in Union acts                              which are implemented by means of the IMI, that Annex should be amended to include this Directive.

(23)The obligation to transpose this Directive into national law should be confined to those provisions which represent a substantive                              amendment as compared to the earlier Directives. The obligation to transpose the provisions which are unchanged arises from                              the earlier Directives.

(24)This Directive should be without prejudice to the obligations of the Member States relating to the time-limits for the transposition                              into national law of the Directives set out in Annex I, Part B,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:

# Article 1U.K.

This Directive applies to the return of cultural objects classified or defined by a Member State as being among national treasures,                     as referred to in point (1) of Article 2, which have been unlawfully removed from the territory of that Member State.                  

# Article 2U.K.

For the purposes of this Directive, the following definitions apply:

‘cultural object’ means an object which is classified or defined by a Member State, before or after its unlawful removal from                              the territory of that Member State, as being among the ‘national treasures possessing artistic, historic or archaeological                              value’ under national legislation or administrative procedures within the meaning of Article 36 TFEU;                           

‘unlawfully removed from the territory of a Member State’ means:

removed from the territory of a Member State in breach of its rules on the protection of national treasures or in breach of                                       Regulation (EC) No 116/2009; or                                    

not returned at the end of a period of lawful temporary removal or any breach of another condition governing such temporary                                       removal;                                    

‘requesting Member State’ means the Member State from whose territory the cultural object has been unlawfully removed;

‘requested Member State’ means the Member State in whose territory a cultural object, which was unlawfully removed from the                              territory of another Member State, is located;                           

‘return’ means the physical return of the cultural object to the territory of the requesting Member State;

‘possessor’ means the person physically holding the cultural object on his own account;

‘holder’ means the person physically holding the cultural object for third parties;

‘public collections’ means collections, defined as public in accordance with the legislation of a Member State, which are                              the property of that Member State, of a local or regional authority within that Member State or of an institution situated                              in the territory of that Member State, such institution being the property of, or significantly financed by, that Member State                              or local or regional authority.                           

# Article 3U.K.

Cultural objects which have been unlawfully removed from the territory of a Member State shall be returned in accordance with                     the procedure and in the circumstances provided for in this Directive.                  

# Article 4U.K.

Each Member State shall appoint one or more central authorities to carry out the tasks provided for in this Directive.

Member States shall inform the Commission of all the central authorities they appoint pursuant to this Article.

The Commission shall publish a list of those central authorities and any changes concerning them in the C series of the *Official Journal of the European Union*.                  

# Article 5U.K.

Member States' central authorities shall cooperate and promote consultation between the Member States' competent national                     authorities. The latter shall in particular:                  

upon application by the requesting Member State, seek a specified cultural object which has been unlawfully removed from its                              territory, identifying the possessor and/or holder. The application must include all information needed to facilitate the                              search, with particular reference to the actual or presumed location of the object;                           

notify the Member States concerned, where a cultural object is found in their own territory and there are reasonable grounds                              for believing that it has been unlawfully removed from the territory of another Member State;                           

enable the competent authorities of the requesting Member State to check that the object in question is a cultural object,                              provided that the check is made within six months of the notification provided for in point (2). If it is not made within                              the stipulated period, points (4) and (5) shall cease to apply;                           

take any necessary measures, in cooperation with the Member State concerned, for the physical preservation of the cultural                              object;                           

prevent, by the necessary interim measures, any action to evade the return procedure;

act as intermediary between the possessor and/or holder and the requesting Member State with regard to return. To that end,                              the competent authorities of the requested Member State may, without prejudice to Article 6, first facilitate the implementation                              of an arbitration procedure, in accordance with the national legislation of the requested Member State and provided that the                              requesting Member State and the possessor or holder give their formal approval.                           

In order to cooperate and consult with each other, the central authorities of the Member States shall use a module of the                     Internal Market Information System (‘IMI’) established by Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012 specifically customised for cultural                     objects. They may also use the IMI to disseminate relevant case-related information concerning cultural objects which have                     been stolen or unlawfully removed from their territory. The Member States shall decide on the use of the IMI by other competent                     authorities for the purposes of this Directive.                  

# Article 6U.K.

The requesting Member State may initiate, before the competent court in the requested Member State, proceedings against the                     possessor or, failing him, the holder, with the aim of securing the return of a cultural object which has been unlawfully                     removed from its territory.                  

Proceedings may be brought only where the document initiating them is accompanied by:

a document describing the object covered by the request and stating that it is a cultural object;

a declaration by the competent authorities of the requesting Member State that the cultural object has been unlawfully removed                              from its territory.                           

# Article 7U.K.

The competent central authority of the requesting Member State shall forthwith inform the competent central authority of the                     requested Member State that proceedings have been initiated with the aim of securing the return of the object in question.                  

The competent central authority of the requested Member State shall forthwith inform the central authorities of the other                     Member States.                  

The exchange of information shall be conducted using the IMI in accordance with the applicable legal provisions on the protection                     of personal data and privacy, without prejudice to the possibility for the competent central authorities to use other means                     of communication in addition to the IMI.                  

# Article 8U.K.

1.Member States shall provide in their legislation that return proceedings under this Directive may not be brought more than                        three years after the competent central authority of the requesting Member State became aware of the location of the cultural                        object and of the identity of its possessor or holder.                  

Such proceedings may, in any event, not be brought more than 30 years after the object was unlawfully removed from the territory                     of the requesting Member State.                  

However, in the case of objects forming part of public collections, defined in point (8) of Article 2, and objects belonging                     to inventories of ecclesiastical or other religious institutions in the Member States where they are subject to special protection                     arrangements under national law, return proceedings shall be subject to a time-limit of 75 years, except in Member States                     where proceedings are not subject to a time-limit or in the case of bilateral agreements between Member States providing for                     a period exceeding 75 years.                  

2.Return proceedings may not be brought if removal of the cultural object from the national territory of the requesting Member                        State is no longer unlawful at the time when they are to be initiated.                  

# Article 9U.K.

Save as otherwise provided in Articles 8 and 14, the competent court shall order the return of the cultural object in question                     where it is found to be a cultural object within the meaning of point (1) of Article 2 and to have been removed unlawfully                     from national territory.                  

# Article 10U.K.

Where return of the object is ordered, the competent court in the requested Member State shall award the possessor fair compensation                     according to the circumstances of the case, provided that the possessor demonstrates that he exercised due care and attention                     in acquiring the object.                  

In determining whether the possessor exercised due care and attention, consideration shall be given to all the circumstances                     of the acquisition, in particular the documentation on the object's provenance, the authorisations for removal required under                     the law of the requesting Member State, the character of the parties, the price paid, whether the possessor consulted any                     accessible register of stolen cultural objects and any relevant information which he could reasonably have obtained, or took                     any other step which a reasonable person would have taken in the circumstances.                  

In the case of a donation or succession, the possessor shall not be in a more favourable position than the person from whom                     he acquired the object by those means.                  

The requesting Member State shall pay that compensation upon return of the object.

# Article 11U.K.

Expenses incurred in implementing a decision ordering the return of a cultural object shall be borne by the requesting Member                     State. The same applies to the costs of the measures referred to in point (4) of Article 5.                  

# Article 12U.K.

Payment of the fair compensation and of the expenses referred to in Articles 10 and 11 respectively shall be without prejudice                     to the requesting Member State's right to take action with a view to recovering those amounts from the persons responsible                     for the unlawful removal of the cultural object from its territory.                  

# Article 13U.K.

Ownership of the cultural object after return shall be governed by the law of the requesting Member State.

# Article 14U.K.

This Directive shall apply only to cultural objects unlawfully removed from the territory of a Member State on or after 1 January 1993.

# Article 15U.K.

1.Each Member State may apply the arrangements provided for in this Directive to the return of cultural objects other than those                        defined in point (1) of Article 2.                  

2.Each Member State may apply the arrangements provided for in this Directive to requests for the return of cultural objects                        unlawfully removed from the territory of other Member States prior to 1 January 1993.                  

# Article 16U.K.

This Directive shall be without prejudice to any civil or criminal proceedings that may be brought, under the national laws                     of the Member States, by the requesting Member State and/or the owner of a cultural object that has been stolen.                  

# Article 17U.K.

1.By 18 December 2015 and every five years thereafter, Member States shall submit to the Commission a report on the application                        of this Directive.                  

2.Every five years the Commission shall present a report to the European Parliament, the Council and the European Economic and                        Social Committee, reviewing the application and effectiveness of this Directive. The report shall be accompanied, if necessary,                        by appropriate proposals.                  

# Article 18U.K.

The following point shall be added to the Annex to Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012:

## ‘8.Directive 2014/60/EU of the European Parliament and 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(9): Articles 5 and 7.’.

# Article 19U.K.

1.By 18 December 2015, Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to                        comply with point (1) of Article 2, point (3) of the first paragraph of Article 5, the second paragraph of Article 5, the                        third paragraph of Article 7, Article 8(1), the first and the second paragraphs of Article 10 and Article 17(1) of this Directive.                  

They shall forthwith communicate the text of those measures to the Commission.

When Member States adopt those measures, they shall contain a reference to this Directive or shall be accompanied by such                     reference on the occasion of their official publication. They shall also include a statement that references in existing laws,                     regulations and administrative provisions to the Directive repealed by this Directive shall be construed as references to                     this Directive. Member States shall determine how such reference is to be made and how that statement is to be formulated.                  

2.Member States shall communicate to the Commission the text of the main provisions of national law which they adopt in the                        field covered by this Directive.                  

# Article 20U.K.

Directive 93/7/EEC, as amended by the Directives listed in Annex I, Part A, is repealed with effect from 19 December 2015,                     without prejudice to the obligations of Member States relating to the time-limits for transposition into national law of the                     Directives set out in Annex I, Part B.                  

References to the repealed Directive shall be construed as references to this Directive and shall be read in accordance with                     the correlation table in Annex II.                  

# Article 21U.K.

This Directive shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the *Official Journal of the European Union*.                  

Points (2) to (8) of Article 2, Articles 3 and 4, points (1), (2) and (4) to (6) of the first paragraph of Article 5, Article                     6, the first and second paragraphs of Article 7, Article 8(2), Article 9, the third and fourth paragraphs of Article 10, and                     Articles 11 to 16 shall apply from 19 December 2015.                  

# Article 22U.K.

The Directive is addressed to the Member States.

Done at Brussels, 15 May 2014.

*For the European Parliament*                            

*The President*                            

M. Schulz                            

*For the Council*                            

*The President*                            

D. Kourkoulas                            

## ANNEX IU.K.

## PART AU.K.**Repealed Directive with list of its successive amendments**(referred to in Article 20)

## PART BU.K.**List of time-limits for transposition into national law**(referred to in Article 20)

## ANNEX IIU.K.

### Correlation table

1

Position of the European Parliament of 16 April 2014 (not yet published in the Official Journal) and decision of the Council                              of 8 May 2014.                           

2

Council Directive 93/7/EEC of 15 March 1993 on the return of cultural objects unlawfully removed from the territory of a Member                              State (OJ L 74, 27.3.1993, p. 74).                           

3

Directive 96/100/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 February 1997 amending the Annex to Directive 93/7/EEC                              on the return of cultural objects unlawfully removed from the territory of a Member State (OJ L 60, 1.3.1997, p. 59).                           

4

Directive 2001/38/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2001 amending Council Directive 93/7/EEC on the                              return of cultural objects unlawfully removed from the territory of a Member State (OJ L 187, 10.7.2001, p. 43).                           

5

Council Regulation (EC) No 116/2009 of 18 December 2008 on the export of cultural goods (OJ L 39, 10.2.2009, p. 1).                           

6

Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on administrative cooperation                              through the Internal Market Information System and repealing Commission Decision 2008/49/EC (‘the IMI Regulation’) (OJ L 316, 14.11.2012, p. 1).                           

7

Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with                              regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (OJ L 281, 23.11.1995, p. 74).                           

8

Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000 on the protection of individuals                              with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data                              (OJ L 8, 12.1.2001, p. 1).                           

9

OJ L 159 28.5.2014, p. 1’.