Meeting of the

Council of Europe's Steering Committee for Cultural Heritage (CDPAT)

The second plenary session of theCouncil of Europe's Steering Committee for Cultural Heritage (CDPAT) was held in Strasbourg and lasted three days (13-15 October 2003).  The session was attended by 55 people in the capacity of representatives of Council of Europe States Parties, and ten people as observers. Bosnia and Hercegovina was represented by Amra Hadimuhamedović, CDPAT member from BiH .

The session was chaired by Paul Drury (UK).

Agenda:

1. Opening session and introductiom of new representatives in the capacity of observers (European Archaeological Consilium and European Association of Archaeologists)
2. Adoption of agenda
3. Introductory remarks by Mme. Catherine Roth, director general for culture and the cultural and natural heritage
4. Report on year's activities by CDPAT secretariat
5. Work on framework convention on the cultural heritage
6. Future cooperation on heritage issues and coordination with European Union programme in the light of EU expansion in 2004
7. Technical cooperation
8. Activities encouraging mutual understanding and cooperation through the heritage
9. European heritage network – HEREIN information system
10. Report on activities relating to:

• Interpretation of the heritage
• Reconstruction of the architectural heritage
• Digitalization of cultural properties
• Monitoring the Valleta Convention
• Recommendation on the heritage of Europe's universities
• European cultural routes

11. Priorities for work plan 2004-2005
12. Recommendation 1621 (2003) of the Parliamentary Assembly on the promotion of the history of art in Europe
13. 50th anniversary of the European Convention on Culture
14. Election of chair, deputy chair and two members of the Office for next year
15. Other business

Following adoption of the agenda, participants were addressed for the first time by Catherine Roth, the new director for culture and the cultural and natural heritage of the Council of Europe, who outlined the prospects for cooperation in the field of the cultural heritage under the auspices of the Council of Europe.

During the session, when discussing various agenda items, the views of Bosnia and Herzegovina as laid out in the Platform adopted by the Commission to Preserve National Monuments of  BiH at its 10th session were put forward.

It was unanimously agreed that the Convention on the European Heritage is a key priority for the Council of Europe.  Given the extensive discussion on the reconstruction of the architectural heritage, it was agreed that this subject should be one of the key topics for the Council of Europe over the coming period.

CDPAT accepted Bosnia and Herzegovina's request that the expert file of experts engaged by the Council of Europe for technical cooperation programmes be made available and that the reports submitted by experts on their contribution to technical cooperation be published.  Representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina and of countries to which technical cooperation particularly applies will be involved in drafting the Rules on technical cooperation which the Council of Europe is to draw up in 2004.

At the session the term of office of the current chair of CDPAT and his deputy Jelka Pirkovič (Slovenia) was extended, and two new members of the office were elected: Mr Dag Myklebust (Norway and Mrs Maria Christina Carlo-Stella (Holy See).

Participants received the catalogues and CDs presenting the work of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments and the endangered heritage in Bosnia and Herzegovina.  Many participants expressed interest and made very favourable comments on the material.

At my request, following the session, I had a meeting with the administrators of the Regional Project for South Eastern Europe, when specific steps for the implementation of the programme were agreed.

I also had a separate meeting with the new Director General for culture and the cultural and natural heritage, at which I made the following suggestions:

1.       that Mme Roth and her staff make their first official visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina during the week of 8 to 12 December during the 11th session of the Commission, when she would (a) officially hand over to the Commission the material collected during the implementation of the CoE Action Plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina (about 4,000 photographs of the heritage in BiH, etc) and (b) sign a Letter of Intent on cooperation on drafting a pilot project for the integration of the heritage of Jajce into reconstruction and development plans;

2.       that the Council of  Europe make a contribution to drafting the state-level Law on the Heritage;

3.       that the Council of Europe support the inclusion of BiH in the HEREIN project and other CoE projects.

It was agreed: (1) that Mme Roth would notify the Commission if she was able to accept the suggested date for her visit to BiH; (2) that the CoE would help draft a state-level law in the manner that would be most acceptable to BiH and, after drafting the bill, it would be sent to the Venice Commission (also proposed by Ambassador Igor Gaon); (3) it will be possible to consider including BiH in HEREIN only if the CoE adopts the budget projections for the cultural heritage section for 2004.