La restituzione dei beni culturali nell’Unione europea: dalla direttiva 93/7 alla direttiva 2014/60, tra mercato interno e competenza esterna dell’Unione

Within the EU internal market, cultural objects are considered goods and fall within the scope of application of free movement rules. Yet the EU law-maker has long adopted special rules on the restitution of cultural objects unlawfully removed from the territory of a Member State, providing a framework for the enforcement across the Union of limits to exports of cultural objects existing in the national law of the Member States. The recently adopted Directive 2014/60/EU, which has substituted Directive 93/7/EEC, has partly modified the legislative framework in order to enhance the effectiveness of restitution procedures. However, the new rules do not address all the recognized shortcomings of previous legislation. In addition, the aim of protecting the cultural heritage of Member States within the context of the internal market may be jeopardized by the interplay between EU rules and international obligations that some Member States have entered into individually. Therefore, the article makes the case for the existence of an external competence of the European Union to accede to the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects.