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 (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2001-06-05
Institutions: Council of the European Union, European Parliament
Subjects: art trade, cultural object, export monitoring, illicit trade, price of securities

10.7.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 187/43

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

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE
EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 95 thereof,

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

(4)

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee,

Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions,

Acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article
251 of the Treaty (2),

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 Council
Directive 93/7/EEC (3) laying down the values, expressed
in ecu, of the cultural goods subject to the application of
the Directive. That subparagraph lays down that the date
for the conversion of such values into national curren-
cies 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 (4), 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 Directive 93/7/EEC, and
hence to the fixed exchange rate corresponding 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 Directive.

The last subparagrah under heading B of the Annex to
Directive 93/7/EEC 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 an appropriate date before 1
January 2002, and provision should be made for those

(1) OJ C 120 E, 24.4.2001, p. 182.
(2) Opinion of

the European Parliament of 14 February 2001 and

Council Decision of 14 May 2001.

(3) OJ L 74, 27.3.1993, p. 74. Directive as amended by Directive 96/
100/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 60,
1.3.1997, p. 59).

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

Member States to adapt that rate automatically and peri-
odically in order to compensate for variations in the
exchange rate between the national currency and the
euro.

It would appear that the value 0 (zero) under heading B
of the Annex to Directive 93/7/EEC, applicable as the
financial
threshold for certain categories of cultural
objects, could be interpreted in such a way as to jeopar-
dise 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 Directive, 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 Directive.

(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,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:

Article 1

In the Annex to Directive 93/7/EEC, 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
national currencies of the values expressed in ecus, shall be
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. The Advisory Committee

L 187/44

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

10.7.2001

on Cultural Goods shall review this method of calculation,
on a proposal from the Commission, 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.’

methods of making such reference shall be laid down by
Member States.

Article 3

This Directive shall enter into force on the 20th day following
that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European
Communities.

Article 2

This Directive is addressed to the Member States.

Article 4

Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and
administrative provisions necessary to comply with this
Directive by 31 December 2001. They shall
immediately
inform the Commission thereof.

When Member States adopt these measures, they shall contain
a reference to this Directive or shall be accompanied by such
reference on the occasion of their official publication. The

Done at Luxembourg, 5 June 2001.

For the European Parliament

For the Council

The President

N. FONTAINE

The President

L. ENGQVIST