Art imports from third countries are growing in the European Community

The import of works of art and, to a lesser extent, antiquities from non-European countries is growing in Europe, with a robust trend from 2018 to 2023 that did not slow down even in the Covid period: +212.9 per cent and +54.7 per cent respectively. Proving that Europe is rich in collectors and welcoming institutions. This trend - according to the latest set of Eurostat data on 2023 - will have to reckon with the entry into force on 28 June of Regulation 2019/880 on the import of non-Union cultural goods into the customs territory of the European Union, which provides for bans, licences or import declarations from the country of origin, without which archaeological goods and ancient works will not be able to enter the Member States of the European Union.

In the import snapshot taken of the 27 EU countries, Austria proves to be a gateway to Europe with a 47% share of art goods entering the EU Member States, worth more than 2.8 billion, surpassing France which, however, has half the value on its credit side. Italy is in fifth place with a greater weight of works of art than antiquities, after Germany and Belgium with a value of 384 million euro, with a surplus in the trade balance of 174.9 million.

It can certainly be seen that the increase in the entry of works of art and antiquities into EU member countries is a possible consequence of the British Isle losing ground. In fact, towards the UK, which has always been a centre of global trade, from 2018 to 2023, imports dropped from $3.3 billion to $2.3 billion (-26.9%) and British exports did not fare any better, falling by 32.4% to $4.8 billion from 2018 to 2023. The new EU customs regime (Regulation 2019/880) after Brexit was lifted by the UK, which although enjoys less stringent import legislation, will in any case remain isolated from the EU states that consider it a third country, from which it is necessary to import according to the new Regulation (provenance- due diligence, etc.).

Turning to exports, the queen is confirmed to be France, which exports more than EUR 1.7 billion of artistic goods outside the EU, accounting for 41.4% of all goods leaving the EU, followed by Germany, Italy and Belgium. France has been able to attract a lot of energy from the United Kingdom after 2021, thanks also to its tax policies and the transposition already in the 2023 Finance Bill of the European Directive no. 2022/542/EU of 5 April 2022, which reduced ordinary VAT on sales from 20% to 5.5%.

From next 1 January in the European art market, France and Germany will introduce reduced rates on sales at 5.5% (on the entire sale or the application of ordinary VAT on the sales margin) and 7% respectively; one wonders what competition Italy will be able to face if there is no regulatory intervention on the current ordinary VAT rate of 22% on sales. The tax delegation allows room for manoeuvre to accommodate the EU reduction of rates from ordinary to reduced (in Italy it could go down to 5%) on some categories of goods, including works of art, until 31 December 2025. But in the palaces of the Ministry of Finance and Culture there is a close correlation between the rate reduction and the revenue reduction.