Council Regulation (EC) No 974/2001 of 14 May 2001 amending Regulation (EEC) No 3911/92 on the export of cultural goods
Date: 2001-05-14
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: cultural object, euro, exchange rate, export, export licence, national currency

L 137/10

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

19.5.2001

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 974/2001

of 14 May 2001

amending Regulation (EEC) No 3911/92 on the export of cultural goods

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

(4)

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

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (2),

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee (3),

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

The establishment of Economic and Monetary Union
and the changeover to the euro have an effect on the last
subparagraph under heading B of the Annex to Regula-
tion (EEC) No 3911/92 (4)
laying down the values,
expressed in ecu, of the cultural goods subject to the
application of the Regulation. That subparagraph lays
down that the date for the conversion of the said values
into national currencies is to be 1 January 1993.

Pursuant to Council Regulation (EC) No 1103/97 of 17
June 1997 on certain provisions relating to the introduc-
tion of the euro (5), any reference to the ecu in legal
instruments became, as from 1 January 1999, a refer-
ence to the euro, after conversion at the rate of one to
one. Without an amendment to Regulation (EEC) No
3911/92, and hence to the fixed exchange rate corres-
ponding 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 conver-
sion 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.

The last subparagraph under heading B of the Annex to
Regulation (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. For the other Member States,
which will continue to convert these thresholds into
national currencies, an exchange rate should be adopted
on a suitable date before 1 January 2002, and provision
should be made for those 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.

(1) OJ C 120 E, 24.4.2001, p. 184.
(2) Opinion delivered on 14 February 2001 (not yet published in the

Official Journal).

(3) Opinion delivered on 25 April 2001 (not yet published in the Offi-

cial Journal).

(4) 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).

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

It would appear that the value 0 (zero) under heading B
of the Annex to Regulation (EEC) No 3911/92, applic-
able as the financial threshold for certain categories of
cultural objects, could 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 —
even if it is negligible or zero — are to be considered
‘cultural objects’ within the meaning of the said Regula-
tion, 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 afforded by the Regulation.

(5)

To avoid any confusion in this respect, therefore, 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 hereby amended as follows:

1. The title ‘VALUE: 0 (zero)’ shall be replaced by:

‘VALUE:

Whatever the value.’

2. The last subparagraph, relating to the conversion into
is

the values expressed in ecu,

national currencies of
replaced by the following:

‘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
Journal of
the European Communities. This countervalue in
national currencies shall be reviewed every two years with
effect from 31 December 2001. Calculation of this counter-
value shall be based on the average daily value of those
currencies, expressed in euro, during the 24 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 Goods, in principle two
years after the first application. For each revision, the values
expressed in euro and their countervalues in national
currency shall be published periodically in the Official
Journal of the European Communities in the first days of the
month of November preceding the date on which the revi-
sion takes effect.’

19.5.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 137/11

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.

Article 2

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

Done at Brussels, 14 May 2001.

For the Council

The President

L. REKKE