

Once issued, an export licence is valid throughout the Union for 12 months. An application for an export licence may be rejected if the goods are protected by Member State legislation on national treasures having artistic, historical or archaeological value. The competent authority examines the evidence submitted by the applicant as to the provenance of the cultural good and makes a decision.
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The Regulation aims to reconcile the principle of free movement with the protection of cultural heritage, after the creation in 1993 of the Internal Market that abolished all borders between Member States.Īnnex I defines the material scope of the Regulation by listing 15 categories of cultural goods to which it applies, as well as by setting minimum age and/or value thresholds for the majority of the categories listed.Įxport licences are issued by the competent authority of the last Member State in the territory of which the cultural object was definitively and lawfully located. Source: Greek administration Export of cultural goods from the UnionĬouncil Regulation (EC) 116/2009 on the export of cultural goods subjects the export of certain cultural goods from the Union customs territory to the presentation of an export licence to customs, and ensures that exports of those goods undergo uniform controls at the Union's external borders. EU customs are strategically well-placed to identify and intercept stolen cultural goods at the border, as they are being taken out or as they are brought into the Union.

The Union currently disposes of a comprehensive arsenal of measures for the protection of cultural heritage, the prevention of illicit trade in cultural goods and the return of cultural objects illegally removed from the territory of a Member State. As goods, they are subject to free movement within the Union, however, with the exception of restrictive measures that may be taken by a Member State to prevent their illicit removal from its territory. The term ‘cultural goods’ is synonymous to the term ‘national treasures’, as referred to in Article 36 TFEU. It enriches the life of all people and unites them through shared memory, knowledge and development of civilisation. EU rules for the protection of cultural heritage Import and export of cultural goodsĬultural goods are objects which are considered of importance for archaeology, prehistory, history, literature, art or science and which are designated and protected as such by a country, as part of its cultural heritage.Ĭultural heritage constitutes one of the basic elements of civilisation having, inter alia, symbolic value, and forming part of the cultural memory and identity of a country and of humankind as a whole.
