OBJECTIVE: to amend Directive 93/7/EEC on the return of cultural objects unlawfully removed from the territory of a Member State, in order to deal with the problem of water-colour, gouache and pastel pictures which are regarded as being either paintings or drawings.
SUBSTANCE: For the purposes of Directive 93/7/EEC, water-colour, gouache and pastel pictures are regarded as being either paintings or drawings, corresponding to categories 3 and 4 respectively of this Directive. Different value thresholds apply for each of these categories, which gives rise to serious differences in the treatment of the pictures depending on the Member States in which they are situated and the current national artistic traditions (which place differing values on different types of work).
To deal with this problem, the Commission proposes deciding specifically in which category this type of picture falls by creating a new distinct category with its own threshold set at ECU 30,000. This threshold will ensure that works of major significance which have been unlawfully removed from the territory of a Member State can be returned.
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