Back Closing of the 72nd Plenary Session of the European Committee on Crime problems (CDPC)

Strasbourg , 

As delivered

I should like to begin by paying tribute to the CDPC, one of our most important Steering Committees in the Council of Europe, responsible for criminal law conventions. As we know, criminal law protects the most important values in our society. Today, I will focus on the Draft Convention on offences relating to cultural properties.

Therefore, let me start by thanking all those who contributed to the drafting of this new Draft Convention in particular:

  • The PC-IBC committee
  • The academic experts, Mr Alessandro CHECHI, Ms Maria PFAMMATTER, Ms Sunneva SÆTEVIK;
  • the CDPC, meeting here today for its 72nd plenary session;
  • and special thanks to the Chair of the PC-IBC, Mr Hans-Holger HERRNFELD who has skillfully steered the ship into the harbour.

During the PC-IBC the 50 States represented worked together in a constructive and efficient fashion to produce a convention that is very relevant in the current climate.

A week ago today, on 24 March,  the United Nations Security Council adopted its Resolution 2347 on the unlawful destruction of cultural heritage and trafficking in cultural property. The Resolution acknowledges “the ongoing efforts of the Council of Europe Committee on Offences relating to Cultural property”. Such recognition does not come often and it testifies to the importance of your work.

The UN Security Council lists the measures it requests States to take to counter the destruction and trafficking of cultural property. The text you have just finalised goes beyond what the UN requests at universal level.

This has been made possible by the ambitious spirit and constructive collaboration which has characterised the drafting process.

A process in which we saw the academic experts, coming from their different spheres, working together and making the most of their complementary knowledge and experience.

And a process in which two Council of Europe entities, DGI and DGII, also worked extremely closely, helping us progress swiftly and smoothly.

And I should of course also thank our international partners, in particular UNESCO and UNIDROIT, who participated very actively in this drafting exercise and without whom the new Convention would not be the comprehensive, modern instrument it now is. These organisations are pioneers in the fight against cultural trafficking.

Thanks to the commitment of all those involved, the new Convention was completed in record time.

This speedy result has not, however, been to the detriment of the content.

On the contrary,  the text is innovative in several respects. Significantly, it will not only protect the cultural property of the States that will become parties to it, but also of those States which may not be in a position to join in the near future, but whose heritage needs protecting now.

I don’t need to remind you that it will be the only international treaty with a focus on illicit activities in the field of cultural heritage, and on the imposition of criminal sanctions. It will thus close many important loopholes. We could say that this new Convention is the missing piece in a worldwide jigsaw.

As the next step, the instrument will first be examined by the Committee of Ministers at its next meeting on 6 April (the GR-J), transmitted to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe for opinion, and then adopted by the Ministers for Foreign Affairs at their meeting on 19 May in Cyprus.

I am confident that it will be opened for signature in the very near future and that many States will sign at that time. The support shown so far by our member states has been very encouraging, particularly when looking at Article 24 of the Convention, which opens avenues for an effective implementation of the Convention through new ways of co-operation between European and non European parties.

And just yesterday, our Secretary General took up the invitation to present it to Culture Ministers from the G7.

I am counting on you all to help get this new treaty on national radars, placed high on the agendas of your national parliaments. We have achieved a lot to get where we are – to have agreed a text that we can all be proud of.

But the real test, as always, with any new Convention, is turning ambitions into reality, and ensuring that it now leads to real change, on the ground.