Will Brexit row mean we lose our Marbles?
EU could demand Elgin statues’ return as part of deal
BRITAIN was embroiled in a furious row with the EU last night after Brussels suggested the Elgin Marbles could be returned as part of a trade deal.
At the request of Greece, a clause has apparently been added to the EU’s draft negotiating papers calling for certain ‘unlawfully-removed cultural objects’ to be returned.
The demands in the draft text, which is due to be signed off by EU governments next week, come after a long-standing claim from Greece that the Marbles, which date from the 5th century BC, were stolen by British diplomat Lord Elgin from Athens more than 200 years ago.
But the demand sparked anger at home last night, with one Downing Street source saying: ‘This is just not happening – and it shows a troubling lack of seriousness about the negotiations on the part of the EU.’
It came as Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, dismissed Boris Johnson’s call for a Canadastyle agreement, telling reporters in Brussels that the UK’s position was ‘not like Canada’.
Mr Barnier said: ‘We have proposed a trade agreement with a country that has a very particular and unique close geographical proximity not like Canada, not like South Korea and not like Japan. Very particular.’ The EU’s draft negotiating mandate for a trade deal, circulated among European governments yesterday, hardened its demands in key trade areas such as fishing.
But it also included a clause saying parties ‘should address issues relating to the return or restitution of unlawfully-removed cultural objects to their country of origin’. A senior EU source confirmed the clause had been inserted at the request of Greece, with support from Cyprus and Italy, two countries concerned about trade in stolen artefacts.
A source said: ‘It is not specifically about the Elgin Marbles but of course the claim by Greece is long- standing and the Greek ambassador asked for it. London’s auction houses are big traders in ancient and historical artefacts and we want to make sure if they are stolen they can be returned.’
If agreed as part of a future trade and security treaty with the EU, Britain would almost certainly face a Greek demand for the return of the Marbles. But the clause does not mean the return of the sculptures, which were once on the Parthenon and are now on display at the British Museum in London, would be a condition of a free trade deal.
Politicians including Jeremy Corbyn have backed returning the Marbles – but the Government insists they were purchased legitimately and have been painstakingly preserved in the UK.
According to a House of Commons briefing paper from 2017, the Government’s position is that ‘issues relating to the ownership and management of the Parthenon sculptures are matters for the trustees of the British Museum’.
Last night former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith said: ‘First they want our fish, then they fish for the marbles. The EU in its panicky desperation is scraping the bottom of the barrel. The marbles like our fish, laws and borders are ours, and they will not get them.’
Tory MP Philip Davies added: ‘I think the EU would be best advised to focus on improving the economic wellbeing of member states... than on such a ridiculous demand which is totally irrelevant.’
‘Scraping the barrel’