Solutions and necessary actions from the cultural heritage sector

When we started the work on the EU directives and their impact on Cultural heritage, we had a very simple solution in mind. This solution had the working title “The Directive of general exemption for cultural heritage”. As we started unravelling the extent of the problem and the legal basis for the EU directives we found that such a directive was not feasible. The cultural sector is subject to the principle of subsidiarity. The question of subsidiarity is the question of what decisions belong at EU level and which decisions belong at the national level. In short this subsidiarity defines culture and cultural heritage laws and regulations as a national prerogative; not part of the EU competencies or legislative system. This fact is elaborated in the article in “2.1. Some elements of the EU treaty whith relevance to cultural heritage and EU Directives”. Cultural policies and therefore cultural heritage is not part of the EU Treaty and cannot, therefore, be regulated through a Directive. Therefore a Directive of general exemption for cultural heritage would have no legal basis in the EU Treaty. The conflicts ensuing from the implementation of the EU Directives, on one hand, and sound heritage conservation practice, on the other hand, takes place at national, rather than at EU or international level. The conflict stems from EU Directives from policy areas that are within the EU competencies; such as international trade competition, personal and public health, safety, and conservation of the natural environment. This is in itself an interesting constellation, but it does not make the task of finding a solution easier.