Rethinking EU Cultural Property Law: Towards Private Enforcement

The cross-border restitution of looted works of art and cultural goods triggers numerous, complex private international law questions, because it often involves various national jurisdictions and substantive laws. So far, legislative actions in this particular area have been widely uncoordinated and fragmented. Additionally, national legislators have adopted different responses to certain legal questions, such as good faith acquisition and prescriptive acquisition in respect to looted cultural property in general, but also in respect to the specific issue of Nazi looted art.

In general, the current legislative frameworks do not always offer adequate tools for private enforcement. However, as in many other complex areas of the law, private enforcement is a crucial supplement to the regulation under public law.

This book explores possible steps forward towards such private enforcement in cultural property law, based on a Study commissioned by the European Parliament in the context of its European Added Value Assessment of possible future legislative action.