European Union law

The Balance of Competences Review, as it is called, aims to provide an analysis of what the UK’s membership of the EU means for the UK national interest.

Malcolm Hay, the dealer controversially convicted by an Athens court of trading in illegally excavated antiquities, has learnt that the hearing of the appeal he lodged in March 2011 has been delayed until February 1, 2013 owing to disruption caused by strikes in Greece.

COMMENT: The ongoing crisis at the heart of government is becoming a national disease as a proposed change in copyright law illustrates, says Ivan Macquisten

THE new ‘emergency guidance’ banning the export of worked rhinoceros horn appeared to have a limited effect at the first sale since it was introduced without notice on March 12.

RESTRICTIONS surrounding the export of rhino horn from countries within the European Union have been further tightened to include all items, whether or not they have been ‘worked’.

DO light, sound and video installations constitute works of art? Not according to the European Commission, who have unexpectedly reversed a decision made in a UK tax tribunal in 2008, and refused to classify works by established contemporary artists Dan Flavin (b.1933) and Bill Viola (b.1951) as “art”.

EXTENDING the Artist’s Resale Right (ARR) to the estates of dead artists after 2012 poses a serious threat to the 60,000 jobs the UK art industry supports. That is the view of the view of the British Art Market Federation (BAMF), which is calling on Brussels to delay the move and allow all member states to adopt the derogation until ARR is accepted globally.

KEY to BAMF’s cause is the European Commission’s (EC) failure to follow the terms of its own Directive.

THE Federation of European Art Gallery Associations has added its voice to the debate over the Artist’s Resale Right, demanding the European Commission carry out the promised impact study immediately.

THE European Commission has reneged on a legal undertaking to review the effects of the Artist’s Resale Right in the UK before it is extended to the estates of dead artists.

THE Geneva Freeport (Port Franc) have insisted that a recent change to Swiss customs laws will not affect the city’s reputation as the art warehouse of Europe.

ON September 17, eBay delivered a petition to the European parliament demanding a law change to stop luxury brands controlling where their goods are sold.

THIS portable regulator signed Thwaites and Reed, London sold for £16,500 (plus 19.5 per cent buyer's premium) at Lawrences of Crewkerne, Somerset on July 10.

OVER the past year, dealers have voiced fears that a proposed European Union Directive banning energy inefficient incandescent light bulbs could seriously damage the trade in antique lighting.

THE UK government has acceded to European Union rules which would see the extradition of suspects like antiquities dealer Malcolm Hay.

Widespread concern over warrants that can ignore human rights

EU ruling may supersede court decision on eBay’s status

But supplies for repairs could still prove a problem

RECENT sales of Rhino horn at provincial salerooms have brought into question the law that governs the trade in taxidermy and wildlife specimens.

FEARS that the European Commission’s proposals to restrict the use of mercury could threaten the trade in antique barometers appear to have receded for the time being at least.