Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EEC) No 3911/92 on the export of cultural goods
Date: 2000-12-22
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: cultural heritage, cultural object, export (EU), heritage protection, third country

C 120 E/184

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

24.4.2001

Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EEC) No 3911/92 on the export of
cultural goods

(2001/C 120 E/16)

(Text with EEA relevance)

COM(2000) 845 final (cid:151) 2000/0333(CNS)

(Submitted by the Commission on 22 December 2000)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 133 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament,

Having regard to the opinion of
Committee,

the Economic and Social

Whereas:

(1) The establishment of Economic and Monetary Union and
the changeover to the euro have an effect on the last
paragraph under heading B of the Annex to Council Regu-
lation (EEC) No 3911/92 (1)
laying down the values,
to the
expressed in ecus, of
application of the Regulation. This note lays down that
the date for the conversion into national currencies is to
be 1 January 1993.

the cultural goods subject

(2) Pursuant to Council Regulation (EC) No 1103/97 of 17 June
1997 on certain provisions relating to the introduction of
the euro (2), any reference to the ecu in legal instruments
became, as from 1 January 1999, a reference to the euro,
after conversion at the rate of one to one. Without an
amendment
to the Annex to Regulation (EEC) No
3911/92, and hence to the fixed exchange rate corre-
sponding to the rate in force on 1 January 1993,
the
Member States having the euro as their currency would
continue to apply different amounts converted on the
basis of the exchange rates of 1993, and not the conversion
rates
irrevocably fixed on 1 January 1999, and this
situation would persist as long as the conversion rule
remained an integral part of the Regulation.

(3) The last paragraph under heading B of the Annex to Regu-
lation (EEC) No 3911/92 should therefore be amended in
such a way that, as from 1 January 2002, the Member
States having the euro as their currency directly apply
the values in euro laid down in Community legislation.
the other Member States, which will continue to
For
convert
into national currencies, an
exchange rate should be adopted on a suitable date

these thresholds

(1) OJ L 395, 31.12.1992, p. 1; Regulation as amended by Regulation

(EC) No 2469/96 (OJ L 335, 24.12.1996, p. 9).

(2) OJ L 162, 19.6.1997, p. 1.

before 1 January 2002, and provision should be made for
those Member States to adapt that rate automatically and
periodically in order to compensate for variations in the
exchange rate between the national currency and the euro.

(4) It has emerged that the value 0 (zero) under heading B of
the Annex to Regulation (EEC) No 3911/92, applicable as
the financial threshold for certain categories of cultural
objects, was liable to be interpreted in such a way as to
jeopardise the effective application of
the Regulation.
Whereas this value 0 (zero) means that goods belonging
to the categories in question, whatever their value (cid:151) even
if it is negligible or zero (cid:151) are to be considered (cid:145)cultural
objects(cid:146) within the meaning of the Regulation, certain auth-
orities have interpreted it in such a way that the cultural
object in question has no value at all, thereby depriving
those categories of goods of the protection provided for by
the Regulation.

(5) To avoid any confusion in this respect, the figure 0 should
be replaced by a clearer expression which leaves no doubt
as to the need to protect the goods in question,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

In the Annex to Regulation (EEC) No 3911/92, the text under
heading B is amended as follows:

1. The title (cid:145)VALUE: 0 (zero)(cid:146) is replaced by:

(cid:145)VALUE:

Whatever the value(cid:146).

2. The last paragraph, relating to the conversion into national
currencies of the values expressed in ecus, is replaced by the
following text:

(cid:145)For the Member States which do not have the euro as their
currency, the values expressed in euro in the Annex shall be
converted and expressed in national currencies at the rate of
exchange on 31 December 2001 published in the Official
the European Communities. This countervalue in
Journal of
national currencies shall be reviewed every two years with
effect
this
from 31 December 2001. Calculation of
countervalue shall be based on the average daily value of
those currencies, expressed in euro, during the twenty-four

24.4.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 120 E/185

months ending on the last day of August preceding the
revision which takes effect on 31 December. This method
of calculation shall be reviewed, on a proposal from the
Commission, by the Advisory Committee on Cultural
in principle two years after the first application.
Goods,
For each revision, the values expressed in euro and their
countervalues in national currency shall be published peri-
odically in the Official Journal of the European Communities in
the first days of the month of November preceding the date
on which the revision takes effect.(cid:146)

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day
following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the
European Communities.

It shall be applicable as from 1 January 2002.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly
applicable in all Member States.