Council Regulation (EC) No 116/2009 of 18 December 2008 on the export of cultural goods (Codified version)
Date: 2008-12-18
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: administrative cooperation, cultural object, cultural relations, export, export licence, heritage protection, third country

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(Acts adopted under the EC Treaty/Euratom Treaty whose publication is obligatory)

I

REGULATIONS

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 116/2009

of 18 December 2008

on the export of cultural goods

(Codified version)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

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

establishing the European

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

Council Regulation (EEC) No 3911/92 of 9 December
1992 on the export of cultural goods (1) has been
substantially amended several times (2). In the interests
of clarity and rationality the said Regulation should be
codified.

In order to maintain the internal market, rules on trade
with third countries are needed for the protection of
cultural goods.

It seems necessary to take measures in particular to
ensure that exports of cultural goods are subject
to
uniform controls at the Community's external borders.

Such a system should require the presentation of a
licence issued by the competent Member State prior to
the export of cultural goods covered by this Regulation.
This necessitates a clear definition of the scope of such
measures and the procedures for their implementation.
The implementation of the system should be as simple
and efficient as possible.

(6)

(7)

Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying
down the procedures for the exercise of implementing
powers conferred on the Commission (3).

In view of the considerable experience of the Member
States' authorities in the application of Council Regu­
lation (EC) No 515/97 of 13 March 1997 on mutual
assistance between the administrative authorities of the
Member States and cooperation between the latter and
the Commission to ensure the correct application of the
law on customs and agricultural matters (4),
the said
Regulation should be applied to this matter.

Annex I to this Regulation is aimed at making clear the
categories of cultural goods which should be given
particular protection in trade with third countries, but
is not intended to prejudice the definition, by Member
States, of national
treasures within the meaning of
Article 30 of the Treaty,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Definition

Without prejudice to Member States' powers under Article 30
of
for the
purposes of this Regulation, to the items listed in Annex I.

the term ‘cultural goods’ shall refer,

the Treaty,

Article 2

Export licence

(5)

The measures necessary for the implementation of this
adopted in accordance with
Regulation should be

The export of cultural goods outside the customs territory
1.
of the Community shall be subject to the presentation of an
export licence.

(1) OJ L 395, 31.12.1992, p. 1.
(2) See Annex II.

(3) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.
(4) OJ L 82, 22.3.1997, p. 1.

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The export licence shall be issued at the request of the

2.
person concerned:

The Commission shall publish a list of the authorities and
2.
any amendment to that list in the ‘C’ series of the Official Journal
of the European Union.

(a) by a competent authority of the Member State in whose
territory the cultural object in question was lawfully and
definitively located on 1 January 1993;

Article 4

Presentation of licence

(b) or, thereafter, by a competent authority of the Member State
in whose territory it is located following either lawful and
definitive dispatch from another Member State, or import­
ation from a third country, or re-importation from a third
country after lawful dispatch from a Member State to that
country.

However, without prejudice to paragraph 4, the Member State
which is competent in accordance with points (a) or (b) of the
first subparagraph is authorised not to require export licences
for the cultural goods specified in the first and second indents
of category A.1 of Annex I where they are of limited arch-
aeological or scientific interest, and provided that they are not
the direct product of excavations, finds or archaeological sites
within a Member State, and that their presence on the market is
lawful.

The export licence may be refused, for the purposes of this
Regulation, where the cultural goods in question are covered
by legislation protecting national treasures of artistic, historical
or archaeological value in the Member State concerned.

Where necessary, the authority referred to in point (b) of the
first subparagraph shall enter into contact with the competent
authorities of the Member State from which the cultural object
in question came, and in particular the competent authorities
within the meaning of Council Directive 93/7/EEC of 15 March
1993 on the return of cultural objects unlawfully removed from
the territory of a Member State (1).

The

3.
Community.

export

licence

shall be

valid throughout

the

The export licence shall be presented, in support of the export
declaration, when the customs export formalities are carried out,
at
that
declaration.

the customs office which is competent

to accept

Article 5

Limitation of competent customs offices

1. Member States may restrict the number of customs offices
empowered to handle formalities for the export of cultural
goods.

2. Member States availing themselves of the option afforded
by paragraph 1 shall inform the Commission of the customs
offices duly empowered.

The Commission shall publish this information in the ‘C’ series
of the Official Journal of the European Union.

Article 6

Administrative cooperation

the purposes of

For
the
provisions of Regulation (EC) No 515/97, and in particular
shall
the provisions on the confidentiality of
apply mutatis mutandis.

implementing this Regulation,

information,

In addition to the cooperation provided for under the first
paragraph, Member States shall
take all necessary steps to
establish, in the context of their mutual relations, cooperation
between the customs authorities and the competent authorities
referred to in Article 4 of Directive 93/7/EEC.

4. Without prejudice to the provisions of paragraphs 1, 2
and 3, direct export
the
from the customs
treasures having artistic, historic or
Community of national
archaeological value which are not cultural goods within the
meaning of this Regulation is subject to the national
law of
the Member State of export.

territory of

Article 7

Implementing measures

The measures necessary for the implementation of this Regu­
lation, in particular those concerning the form to be used (for
example, the model and technical properties) shall be adopted
in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 8(2).

Article 3

Competent authorities

Article 8

Committee

1. Member States shall furnish the Commission with a list of
the authorities empowered to issue export licences for cultural
goods.

1.

The Commission shall be assisted by a committee.

(1) OJ L 74, 27.3.1993, p. 74.

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 3 and
7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply.

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Article 9

Penalties

The Member States shall
lay down the rules on penalties
applicable to infringements of the provisions of this Regulation
and shall take all measures necessary to ensure that they are
implemented. The penalties provided for must be effective,
proportionate and dissuasive.

Article 10

Reporting

Each Member State shall inform the Commission of the

1.
measures taken pursuant to this Regulation.

The Commission shall pass on this information to the other
Member States.

Every three years the Commission shall present a report to
2.
the Council and the European
the European Parliament,
Economic and Social Committee on the implementation of
this Regulation.

The Council, acting on a proposal from the Commission, shall
examine every three years and, where appropriate, update the
amounts indicated in Annex I, on the basis of economic and
monetary indicators in the Community.

Article 11

Repeal

Regulation (EEC) No 3911/92, as amended by the Regulations
listed in Annex II, is repealed.

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

Article 12

Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following
its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

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

Done at Brussels, 18 December 2008.

For the Council
The President

M. BARNIER

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ANNEX I

Categories of cultural objects covered by Article 1

A. 1. Archaeological objects more than 100 years old which are the products of:

— excavations and finds on land or under water

— archaeological sites

— archaeological collections

9705 00 00

9706 00 00

2. Elements

religious
forming an integral part of artistic, historical or
monuments which have been dismembered, of an age exceeding 100 years

9705 00 00
9706 00 00

3. Pictures and paintings, other than those included in categories 4 or 5,

9701

executed entirely by hand in any medium and on any material (1)

4. Watercolours, gouaches and pastels executed entirely by hand on any

9701

material (1)

5. Mosaics in any material executed entirely by hand, other than those falling
in categories 1 or 2, and drawings in any medium executed entirely by
hand on any material (1)

6914
9701

6. Original engravings, prints, serigraphs and lithographs with their respective

plates and original posters (1)

Chapter 49
9702 00 00
8442 50 99

7. Original sculptures or statuary and copies produced by the same process as

9703 00 00

the original (1), other than those in category 1

8. Photographs, films and negatives thereof (1)

9.

Incunabula and manuscripts, including maps and musical scores, singly or
in collections (1)

10. Books more than 100 years old, singly or in collections

11. Printed maps more than 200 years old

12. Archives, and any elements thereof, of any kind or any medium which are

more than 50 years old

3704
3705
3706
4911 91 80

9702 00 00
9706 00 00
4901 10 00
4901 99 00
4904 00 00
4905 91 00
4905 99 00
4906 00 00

9705 00 00
9706 00 00

9706 00 00

3704
3705
3706
4901
4906
9705 00 00
9706 00 00

13.

(a) Collections (2) and specimens from zoological, botanical, mineralogical

9705 00 00

or anatomical collections;

(b) Collections (2)

of
numismatic interest

historical,

palaeontological,

ethnographic

or

9705 00 00

_____________
(1) Which are more than 50 years old and do not belong to their originators.
(2) As defined by the Court of Justice in its judgment in Case 252/84, as follows: ‘Collectors’ pieces within the meaning of heading
No 97.05 of the Common Customs Tariff are articles which possess the requisite characteristics for inclusion in a collection,
that is to say, articles which are relatively rare, are not normally used for their original purpose, are the subject of special
transactions outside the normal trade in similar utility articles and are of high value’.

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14. Means of transport more than 75 years old

9705 00 00
Chapters 86-89

15. Any other antique items not included in categories A.1 to A.14

(a) between 50 and 100 years old

toys, games

glassware

articles of goldsmiths’ or silversmiths’ wares

furniture

optical, photographic or cinematographic apparatus

musical instruments

clocks and watches and parts thereof

articles of wood

pottery

tapestries

carpets

wallpaper

arms

(b) more than 100 years old

Chapter 95

7013

7114

Chapter 94

Chapter 90

Chapter 92

Chapter 91

Chapter 44

Chapter 69

5805 00 00

Chapter 57

4814

Chapter 93

9706 00 00

The cultural objects in categories A.1 to A.15 are covered by this Regulation only if their value corresponds to, or
exceeds, the financial thresholds under B.

B. Financial thresholds applicable to certain categories under A (in euro)

Value:

Whatever the value

— 1 (Archaeological objects)

— 2 (Dismembered monuments)

— 9 (Incunabula and manuscripts)

— 12 (Archives)

15 000

— 5 (Mosaics and drawings)

— 6 (Engravings)

— 8 (Photographs)

— 11 (Printed maps)

30 000

— 4 (Watercolours, gouaches and pastels)

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50 000

— 7 (Statuary)

— 10 (Books)

— 13 (Collections)

— 14 (Means of transport)

— 15 (Any other object)

150 000

— 3 (Pictures)

The assessment of whether or not the conditions relating to financial value are fulfilled must be made when an
application for an export licence is submitted. The financial value is that of the cultural object in the Member State
referred to in Article 2(2).

For the Member States which do not have the euro as their currency, the values expressed in euro in Annex I 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 countervalue 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
Union in the first days of the month of November preceding the date on which the revision takes effect.

ANNEX II

Repealed Regulation with its successive amendments

Council Regulation (EEC) No 3911/92
(OJ L 395, 31.12.1992, p. 1)

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

Council Regulation (EC) No 974/2001
(OJ L 137, 19.5.2001, p. 10)

Council Regulation (EC) No 806/2003
(OJ L 122, 16.5.2003, p. 1)

Annex I, point 2 only

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ANNEX III

CORRELATION TABLE

Regulation (EEC) No 3911/92

This Regulation

Article 1

Article 2(1)

Article 1

Article 2(1)

Article 2(2), first subparagraph, introductory wording

Article 2(2), first subparagraph, introductory wording

Article 2(2), first subparagraph, first indent

Article 2(2), first subparagraph, point (a)

Article 2(2), first subparagraph, second indent

Article 2(2), first subparagraph, point (b)

Article 2(2), second subparagraph

Article 2(2), second subparagraph

Article 2(2), third subparagraph

Article 2(2), third subparagraph

Article 2(2), fourth subparagraph

Article 2(2), fourth subparagraph

Article 2(3)

Article 2(4)

Articles 3 to 9

Article 10, first paragraph

Article 10, second paragraph

Article 10, third paragraph

Article 10, fourth paragraph

Article 10, fifth paragraph

—

Article 11

Article 2(3)

Article 2(4)

Articles 3 to 9

Article 10(1), first subparagraph

Article 10(1), second subparagraph

Article 10(2), first subparagraph

—

Article 10(2), second subparagraph

Article 11

Article 12

Annex, points A.1, A.2 and A.3

Annex I, points A.1, A.2 and A.3

Annex, point A.3A

Annex, point A.4

Annex, point A.5

Annex, point A.6

Annex, point A.7

Annex, point A.8

Annex, point A.9

Annex, point A.10

Annex, point A.11

Annex, point A.12

Annex, point A.13

Annex, point A.14

Annex, point B

—

—

Annex I, point A.4

Annex I, point A.5

Annex I, point A.6

Annex I, point A.7

Annex I, point A.8

Annex I, point A.9

Annex I, point A.10

Annex I, point A.11

Annex I, point A.12

Annex I, point A.13

Annex I, point A.14

Annex I, point A.15

Annex I, point B

Annex II

Annex III