COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) N° 3911/92 of 9 December 1992 on the export of cultural goods
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular Article  113 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, in view of the completion of the internal market, rules on trade with third countries are  needed for the protection of cultural goods;
Whereas, in the light of the conclusions of the Council meeting on 19 November 1990, 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;
Whereas 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; whereas this necessitates a  clear definition of the scope of such measures and the procedures for their implementation; whereas  the implementation of the system should be as simple and efficient as possible; whereas a Committee  should be set up to assist the Commission in carrying out the responsibilities conferred on it by  this Regulation;
Whereas, in view of the considerable experience of the Member States' authorities in the  application of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1468/81 of 19 May 1981 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 or agricultural matters (4), the  said Regulation should be applied to this matter;
Whereas the Annex 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 36  of the Treaty,
Without prejudice to Member States' powers under Article 36 of the  Treaty, the term 'cultural goods` shall refer, for the purposes of this Regulation, to the items  listed in the Annex.
TITLE 1
Export licence
1. The export of cultural goods outside the customs territory  of the Community shall be subject to the presentation of an export licence.
2. The export licence shall be issued at the request of the person concerned:
- 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,
- 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 importation from a  third country, or reimportation 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  the two indents in the first subparagraph may not require export licences for the cultural goods  specified in the first and second indents of category A1 of the Annex where they are of limited  archaeological or scientific interest, and provided that they are not the direct product of  excavations, finds and 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 the second indent 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/. . ./EEC of . . . on the return of cultural objects unlawfully removed from the  territory of a Member State (1).
3. The export licence shall be valid throughout the Community.
4. Without prejudice to the provisions of this Article, direct export from the customs territory of  the Community of national treasures having artistic, historic or 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.
1. Member States shall furnish the Commission with a list of the authorities empowered  to issue export licences for cultural goods.
2. The Commission shall publish a list of these authorities and any amendment to that list in the  'C` series of the Official Journal of the European Communities.
The export licence shall be presented, in support of the export declaration, when the  customs export formalities are carried out, at the customs office which is competent to accept that  declaration.
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 paragrah 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 Communities.
TITLE 2
Administrative cooperation
For the purposes of implementing this Regulation,  the provisions of Regulation (EEC) No 1468/81, and in particular the provisions on the  confidentiality of information, shall apply mutatis mutandis.
In addition to the cooperation provided for under the first subparagraph, 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/. .  ./EEC (2).
TITLE 3
General and final provisions
The provisions necessary for the implementation  of this Regulation, in particular those concerning the form to be used (for example, the model and  technical properties) shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 8  (2).
1. The Commission shall be assisted by a committee composed of the representatives of  the Member States and chaired by the representative of the Commission.
The committee shall examine any matter concerning the implementation of this Regulation raised by  its chairman either on his own initiative or at the request of a representative of a Member State.
2. The representative of the Commission shall submit to the committee a draft of the measures to be  taken. The committee shall deliver its opinion on the draft within a time limit which the chairman  may lay down according to the urgency of the matter, if necessary by taking a vote.
The opinion shall be recorded in the minutes; in addition, each Member State shall have the right  to ask to have its position recorded in the minutes.
The Commission shall take the utmost account of the opinion delivered by the committee. It shall  inform the committee of the manner in which its opinion has been taken into account.
Each Member State shall determine the penalties to be applied for infringement of the  provisions of this Regulation. The penalties shall be sufficient to promote compliance with those  provisions.
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Each Member State shall inform the Commission of the 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 the European Parliament, the Council and  the Economic and Social Committee on the implementation of this Regulation.
The Council shall review the effectiveness of the Regulation after a period of application of three  years and, acting on a proposal from the Commission, make any necessary adaptations.
In any event, the Council, acting on a proposal from the Commission, shall examine every three  years and, whre appropriate, update the amounts indicated in the Annex, on the basis of economic  and monetary indicators in the Community.
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This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following that of publication  in the Official Journal of the European Communities of Directive 93/. . ./EEC (1).
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all  Member States.