EU central authorities
An overview of the central authorities appointed by the Member States to carry out the tasks relating to the return of cultural objects unlawfully removed from the territory of a Member State pursuant to Article 3 of Directive 93/7/EEC (2014/C 55/02) is provided below.
The central authorities of the Member States work together to implement the relevant return procedures and facilitate the return of cultural objects to other Member States after their unlawful removal. They assist any requesting Member State with its investigations into the origin and current location of cultural objects from this Member State’s sovereign territory, notify the relevant Member State if one of the latter’s cultural objects is found in its own sovereign territory and take any steps required to preserve and secure cultural objects originating from another Member State.