A longer period should allow Member States to take the necessary measures to preserve the cultural object and, where appropriate , prevent any action to evade the return procedure.

Q. whereas it is important to preserve the cultural heritage of many developing countries, and whereas problems exist in those countries with the recognition, description and conservation of cultural assets,

Under the system provided for by the Directive the court in the Member State in which the object is found must order its return where the Member State from which the object comes proves that it - constitutes a national treasure; - belongs to one of the categories of objects making up the common "hard core" set out in the Directive; or, - while not necessarily belonging to one of these categories, forms an integral part of public collections listed in the inventories of museums, archives or libraries' conservation collections, or belongs to the Church; - left its territory unlawfully after 1 January 1993.

The Commission believes that there is a need for a comprehensive analysis of taxation in the cultural field; and that this should be based on the four objectives of Community action in the cultural sector: - free movement of cultural goods; - improving the living and working conditions of cultural workers; - widening the audience; - preserving the architectural heritage.

The Europe Agreements as well as bilateral agreements are setting out a wide range of possibilities to intensify cultural cooperation including inter alia: conservation of cultural and architectural heritage, training, translation of literary works, exchange of non commercial works of art, film production and cooperation in the audiovisual sector, and cooperation to prevent illegal trading of cultural goods.

Taxation has an impact both on the production, trading, conservation and/or consumption of cultural goods and on the living and working conditions of cultural workers.