Britain has the perfect opportunity to do the right thing and resolve differences in the coming months

The Parthenon Marbles is one of many outstanding international issues that the UK has with other EU countries. If they are going to proceed with exiting the EU, then resolving such issues may well pave the way for greater concessions argues Geoffrey Robertson.

Part of the Parthenon frieze in the British Museum

From:
Guardian

Let’s do a Brexit deal with the Parthenon marbles
Geoffrey Robertson
Tuesday 4 April 2017 08.30 BST

Not yet a week since the triggering of article 50, and already hope of cordial negotiations seems optimistic. At the weekend, amid early jostling over the post-Brexit fate of Gibraltar, former Tory leader Michael Howard implied that one way to resolve that situation could be a war with Spain.

Thus far, the focus has been on the politics, the pounds, shillings and euros and the colour of passports, but in the search for common ground it’s worth remembering that the European Union treaty itself, in articles 3 and 167, places a duty on both sides in negotiations to take into account the need to “ensure that Europe’s cultural heritage is safeguarded and enhanced”. Here there is scope for a gesture that may allow talks to proceed more constructively.
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New legislation proposed by the European Commission may help EU member states to recover artefacts that they believe have been illegally removed from their country. The clear limitation though, is that this would only work when both countries are EU members – which instantly strikes the majority of high profile restitution cases off the list of ones covered by the legislation. Although, the Parthenon Marbles would of course be covered.

Until more details of the legislation are published, it is hard to guage what the actual impact of it might be.

From:
New Europe

New legislation to facilitate recovery of illegally removed national treasures
Article | February 19, 2013 – 1:52pm | By Elena Ralli

The European Commission is planning to help Member States recover national treasures which have been unlawfully removed from their territory by amending its current legislation that has several inadequacies. Consequently, the European Commission Vice-President Antonio Tajani proposed today to strengthen the possibility for restitution available to Member States.

As Vice-President Antonio Tajani, responsible for Industry and Entrepreneurship stated: “Safeguarding the cultural heritage of all Member States is of major importance to the European Union. Our proposal is therefore necessary to further strengthen the effectiveness of the fight against illegal trafficking in cultural goods. The harmful effect on our national treasures represent a serious threat to the preservation of the origins and history of our civilization.”
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The New Acropolis Museum, as one of the most recently opened tourist sites in Greece is lucky enough to have high quality facilities for visitors, such as disabled access provisions. Many other sites in Greece are less fortunate however. A new initiative aims to try and solve this problem by upgrading many of the other sites to make them more easily accessible to all visitors.

From:
Athens News Agency

11/26/2010
Plan on sites services

ANa-Mpa/The culture and tourism ministry on Wednesday outlined a plan to improve services at Greek museums and archaeological sites, especially in terms of disabled access and availability of water.

The new programme follows a study that revealing a lack of vital services in some 150 museums around the country, including some of the most important and most popular sites.
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Hans-Gert Pöttering, the president of the European Parliament has been shown around the New Acropolis Museum & spoke positively about it whilst on a visit to Greece.

From:
ERT

01 Jul 2009
Karamanlis-Pöttering Meeting

Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis met Wednesday with Hans-Gert Pöttering, President of the European Parliament, at Maximos Mansion. The two men discussed the developments in the European Union after the June European elections, the financial turmoil and the Lisbon Treaty. The Greek Premier thanked Pöttering, whose term is about to expire, for the excellent level of cooperation they had. Pöttering, on his part, praised Greece for its contribution to the strengthening of the institutions of the European Union with the ratification of the Treaty. After the meeting, the President of the European Parliament toured the New Acropolis Museum.

The two men exchanged views on the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty and the enhancement of the European Parliament’s role. Karamanlis assured Pöttering that Greece will support the work and initiatives of the European Parliament.
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