Croatia/ 5.3 Sector specific legislation  

5.3.3 Cultural heritage

Cultural property may be publicly or privately owned and may be exported only in exceptional cases. The most important obligations are care and maintenance of the property and public accessibility, with the right, under certain conditions, to receive compensation from the budget for some maintenance costs. The owners of cultural property enjoy tax and duty benefits.

The Law on the Protection of Cultural Assets, 1999 introduced the obligation of paying a "monument annuity" in case a cultural asset is used in a printed work, for promotion, or when an income or profit is made from an economic activity performed in an immovable cultural asset. This Law was amended in 2003 aiming to improve the system of collecting and distributing funds collected from monument taxes. The 2009 amendments bring changes in regulation of concessions and jurisdictions, while recent changes reflect EU regulations regarding the trafficking and return of cultural goods. The amendments made in 2011 relate to the establishment of the Committee for Complaints and its jurisdiction, and 2012 amendments are related to classification categories of those eligible for monument annuity tax.

There is special legislation (the Law on Archive Material and Archives, 1997 amended in 2000, and 2009) on the protection of archival material and its handling, librarianship, and the preservation of films and film material of historic, artistic and other cultural significance. The amendments in 2009 enable foreign legal and private entities to establish archives. New requirements for the position of director of the archive and new categories of archival professions have been introduced. The special law regarding museums and collections - Museums Law - dates from 1998 and was amended in 2009 (special provisions regarding immaterial cultural heritage – see chapter 4.2.2). New requirements for the position of director of the museum and new categorisations for museum professions have been introduced.

The government adopted the Strategy for Protection, Conservation and Sustainable Economic Utilisation of Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Croatia (2011-2015) in July 2011 (see chapter 4.2.2).

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