MEPs debated, on Thursday 20 April, the Commission’s action plan on the fight against trafficking in cultural goods (see EUROPE 13083/14) and welcomed the proposals to strengthen international cooperation and to fight against trafficking in cultural goods that could enrich terrorist groups or looters.
During the debate, weaknesses in data collection and the link to Interpol registers were pointed out by several MEPs, despite the fact that over 850,000 artefacts were seized worldwide in 2020.
Other MEPs deplored the fact that the action plan did not mention the issue of the restitution of cultural goods, in particular works of art looted by Europeans during colonisation in Africa and currently in European museums, as said the German MEP, Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana (Greens/EFA).
Sean Kelly (EPP, Irish) insisted that trafficking should be stopped so as not to impoverish the countries of origin of these cultural goods and to combat tax evasion.
For his part, European Commissioner Nicolas Schmit stressed that Member States are not starting from scratch in the face of this scourge, with the international Operation Pandora having led to more than 400 arrests and the recovery of 150,000 items since 2016.
A number of Member States already have registers to trace goods and also work with Europol in the framework of the EMPACT network.
For their part, the Member States discussed a new draft of conclusions on this action plan on 18 April.
The draft, dated 11 April, asks the Commission to continue funding the development of solutions to improve the traceability and detection of cultural goods and to consider guidelines for Member States on the establishment of sales registers (also covering online sales).
It is invited to consider legislative measures to introduce an obligation for Member States to maintain a standardised national register of transactions with cultural goods, which could contain complete and verified identities of the seller and buyer, price of the item, information on authenticity, provenance and provenience, precise description of the item and quality photo, consistent with data provided in the context of an import subject to licence or declaration.
It should also increase support for the protection of Ukrainian cultural property.
Member countries, for their part, should consider, where they do not exist, the creation and management of specialised national databases on stolen cultural property and improve existing databases by considering a possible interconnection with the Interpol database on stolen works of art.
A specific alert system, when cultural property is involved in financial transactions, pledges, loans or bonds, can also be devised between the various competent authorities.
Link to the text: https://aeur.eu/f/6em (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)