Brussels, 27/02/2014 (Agence Europe) - On 26 February, the permanent representatives of the member states to the EU (Coreper) approved the informal agreement concluded between the Greek Presidency of the Council and the European Parliament on the proposed directive on the return of cultural goods unlawfully removed from the territory of a member state. This agreement paves the way for the official adoption of the directive by the Council under the Greek Presidency, once the EP has adopted its position on first reading, which it will do in the course of the month of April.
The directive will replace the earlier one, dating from 1993, which was not particularly effective. The new text makes four major changes: 1) the lifting of the restrictions for the return of cultural goods: any cultural object that a member state defines as a “national treasure” will be eligible for return; 2) an extension of the deadlines: the member state will have six months, instead of the current two months, to check that the object discovered in another member state is a national treasure, and three years (instead of one year) to initiate the return proceedings before the competent national court; 3) the burden of proof is now on the possessor for compensation purposes (the possessor would have to prove that when he acquired the cultural object, he could not have known that it was illegally trafficked); 4) use of the internal market information system to improve administrative cooperation and information exchanges between the national authorities. (IL)