Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the "Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Directive 93/7/EEC on the return of cultural objects unlawfully removed from the territory of a Member State"
Date: 2001-04-25
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: art trade, cultural object, export monitoring, illicit trade

C 193/84

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

10.7.2001

Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the ‘Proposal for a Directive of the European
Parliament and of the Council amending Council Directive 93/7/EEC on the return of cultural
objects unlawfully removed from the territory of a Member State’

(2001/C 193/17)

On 22 January 2001 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under
Article 133 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned proposal.

The Section for Employment, Social Affairs and Citizenship, which was responsible for preparing the
Committee’s work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 6 April 2001. The rapporteur was Mr Sepi.

At its 381st plenary session (meeting of 25 April 2001), the Economic and Social Committee adopted
the following opinion with 62 votes in favour and one abstention.

1. Gist of the Commission proposal

persist as long as the conversion rule remained an integral part
of the Directive.

Council Regulation (EEC) No 3911/92 on the export
1.1.
of cultural goods and Council Directive 93/7/EEC on the return
of cultural objects unlawfully removed from the territory of
a Member State are measures accompanying the establishment
of the single market and aimed at reconciling the fundamental
principle of the free movement of cultural goods with the
protection of national
treasures. The Regulation sets up
uniform preventive controls at the Community’s external
borders which allow the competent authorities in the Member
States (Culture and Customs) from which the cultural goods
are to be exported to a third country to take account of
the interests of
the other Member States. The Directive
complements this preventive instrument by providing for
mechanisms and a procedure for returning national treasures
when these have left the territory of a Member State unlawfully.

For the purposes of delimiting their scope, Regulation
1.2.
(EEC) No 3911/92 and Directive 93/7/EEC set out, in annexes
with identical content, categories of cultural objects. These
categories are drawn up according to criteria relating to the
nature of the goods concerned and their age, to which an
economic value was added expressed in ecus. These annexes
state that the date for the conversion of values expressed in
ecus into national currencies was 1 January 1993.

Pursuant to Council Regulation (EC) No 1103/97 (1) of
1.3.
17 June 1997 on certain provisions relating to the introduction
of the euro, 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 Directive 93/7/EEC, and hence to the fixed
exchange rate corresponding to the rate in force on 1 January
1993, 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; this situation would

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

The last paragraph under heading B of the Annex to
1.4.
Directive 93/7/EEC should therefore be amended so that, as of
1 January 2002, the Member States having the euro as their
currency directly apply the values in euro laid down in
Community legislation. For the other Member States, which
will continue to convert these thresholds into national currenc-
ies, an exchange rate should be adopted on a suitable date
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.

It has emerged that the value 0 (zero) under heading B
1.5.
of the Annex to Directive 93/7/EEC, 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 Directive. Whereas this value 0 (zero) means
that goods belonging to the categories in question, whatever
their value - even if it is negligible or zero — are to be
considered ‘cultural objects’ within the meaning of the Direc-
tive, certain authorities 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 Directive.

The Commission proposal therefore aims to introduce
to the Annex to Directive

1.6.
two technical amendments
93/7/EEC, namely:

— to replace the figure 0, which is one of the values set out

in heading B, with the text ‘whatever the value’;

— to amend the note at the end of heading B by laying
down, for the Member States not participating in EMU, a
date for the conversion into national currencies of the
values expressed in euro and a periodic adaptation of the
amounts in national currencies every two years. The
reference date chosen is 31 December 2001, the last day
of the period for transition to the euro. For the periodic
adaptation every two years, the system chosen follows
the model for periodic adaptation laid down by the
‘public procurement’ Directives.

10.7.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 193/85

2. General comments

into national currencies of the values expressed in euro, for
those Member States not participating in EMU.

2.1.

The Committee welcomes the Commission proposal.

2.2.
The Committee agrees that it is appropriate to set
31 December 2001 as the reference date for the conversion

2.3.
In order to avoid any confusion, the Committee also
thinks that it is appropriate to replace the figure 0 (zero) with
a clearer expression.

Brussels, 25 April 2001.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Göke FRERICHS

Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the ‘Proposal for a Council Regulation
amending Regulation (EEC) No. 3911/92 on the export of cultural goods’

(2001/C 193/18)

On 18 January 2001 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under
Article 133 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned proposal.

The Section for Employment, Social Affairs and Citizenship, which was responsible for preparing the
Committee’s work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 6 April 2001. The rapporteur was Mr Sepi.

At its 381st plenary session (meeting of 25 April 2001), the Economic and Social Committee adopted
the following opinion by 60 votes to one with two abstentions.

1. Gist of the Commission proposal

1.1.
Council Regulation (EEC) No 3911/92 on the export
of cultural goods and Council Directive 93/7/EEC on the return
of cultural objects unlawfully removed from the territory of
a Member State are measures accompanying the establishment
of the single market and aimed at reconciling the fundamental
principle of the free movement of cultural goods with the
protection of national
treasures. The Regulation sets up
uniform preventive controls at the Community’s external
borders which allow the competent authorities in the Member
States (Culture and Customs) from which the cultural goods
are to be exported to a third country to take account of
the interests of
the other Member States. The Directive
complements this preventive instrument by providing for
mechanisms and a procedure for returning national treasures
when these have left the territory of a Member State unlawfully.

1.2.
For the purposes of delimiting their scope, Regulation
(EEC) No 3911/92 and Directive 93/7/EEC set out, in annexes

with identical content, categories of cultural objects. These
categories are drawn up according to criteria relating to the
nature of the goods concerned and their age, to which an
economic value was added expressed in ecus. These annexes
state that the date for the conversion of values expressed in
ecus into national currencies was 1 January 1993.

1.3.
Pursuant to Council Regulation (EC) No 1103/97 of
17 June 1997 on certain provisions relating to the introduction
of the euro, 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 corresponding to the rate in force on
1 January 1993, 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; this
situation would persist as long as the conversion rule remained
an integral part of the Regulation.