WRITTEN QUESTION E-1818/96 by Roberto Mezzaroma (UPE) to the Commission (5 July 1996)

Subject: Recovery of works of art stolen from Italy during the Second World War

The study group set up by the Italian Ministry of Culture recently produced a comprehensive catalogue of the hundreds of works of art removed from museums and public and private collections in Italy during the Second World War. This detailed register, which is backed up by extensive, unique documentation is the product of thirty years of painstaking research conducted by Professor Rodolfo Sivieri.

The many works involved were exported in a not altogether legal manner and in flagrant breach of Italian Law No 1089 of 1989 concerning the protection of cultural and artistic goods, on which a strict export ban had been placed. These masterpieces undoubtedly form part of our universal culture and are currently in the unlawful possession of foreign museums and foundations, inter alia in Germany, the CIS States and the United States.

Would the Commission take prompt action in support of the measures being taken by the relevant Italian authorities with a view to speeding up the process of recovering the stolen works of art, above all from countries belonging to the European Union?

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission (11 September 1996)

With a view to achieving - including for cultural objects - the objective of free movement of goods within the internal market in line with Article 7a of the EC Treaty, the Commission has adopted among other instruments Council Directive 93/7/EEC of 15 March 1993 on the return of cultural objects unlawfully removed from the territory of a Member State. ((OJ L 74, 27.3.1993. ))

The Directive applies, in principle, only to cultural objects unlawfully removed after 1 January 1993 from the territory of a Member State which classifies them as national treasures.

In accordance with Article 14(2) of the Directive, each Member State may decide to extend the obligation to return cultural objects introduced by the Directive to cultural objects classified as national treasures that were unlawfully removed from the territory of another Member State prior to 1 January 1993.