Question

To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to the contribution of 10 June 2015, Official Report, column 1210, what steps he is taking to ensure the (a) ratification of the Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and (b) implementation of the EU Directive on The Return of Cultural Objects.

The Government is looking at options for introducing the necessary legislation to allow UK ratification of the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict.

Directive 93/7/EEC of 15 March 1993 on the return of cultural objects unlawfully removed from the territory of a Member State was implemented in UK law in the Return of Cultural Objects Regulations 1994. This Directive was recast in Directive 2014/60/EU of 15 May 2014, and will be implemented by Government before the deadline of 18 December 2015.