Restrictions on export of private archives
The movement of cultural goods within and outside the European Union continues to be controlled by the Directives and Regulation of 1992-1993, and the legislation of the respective member states which gave force to these. Despite the harmonisation of these controls, the protection of each country’s heritage from export and the need to pursue stolen or illegally exported archives even within the European Union remain of continuing concern to a number of respondents to this survey. Several countries have introduced a right for the state or one of its official institutions such as the national archives or the national library, to claim surrogate copies of heritage archives that are to be exported. See also chapter 2e "Practical aspects of access : reading room standards", point 2 "Mesures against theft".

More and more archival documents have a commercial value and although most archives services have improved their safety measures, theft remains a serious problem.

There are several reasons for this phenomenon. On the one hand there is the considerable increase in the number and the nature of the readers using archive material over recent decades. On the other hand, the market value attained by such documents encourages criminality. The prices realised by certain documents at public auctions can only encourage the development of a trade in autographs now that they have an investment value.

In addition, in recent years, specialist networks have developed. These networks whose existence has only just come to notice, bring together thieves, receivers of stolen goods, and professionals of doubtful reputation who can provide a commercial outlet for documents removed from public collections. Recent cases have shown that the theft of documents, clearly listed as being in public archive services, can be carried out to order for corrupt professionals.

It is possible to make improvements in security by means of appropriate reading room architecture and stricter security measures. Apart from asking for proof of identity from all visitors and providing duplicates instead of original documents, there are various precautionary measures that can be taken in reading rooms like camera observation, not allowing bags or folders in the reading room, providing the visitors with special paper, weighing the amount of paper taken in and out of the reading room (but note that the weight of paper can vary depending on the environment conditions), etc.

It is recommended that visitors always identify themselves with their archives card (with photograph) when getting documents and that careful registration of all requests for consultation of documents is kept, so that even after a longer time it is clear which documents were consulted by which visitor. Reading room staff should keep close observation. A detailed description of archival holdings is helpful when proof of ownership of stolen documents has to be given.

For the prevention of theft there are a number of measures that can be taken, such as:
- an obligation for antiques dealers to keep a register of their objects and the provenance of these;
- a request that notaries report the existence and whereabouts of (important) private archives, found in heritages;
- the formation of a specialised police force, as already exists in certain countries;
- the monitoring of catalogues of antiques sales;
- registration of the consultation of valuable archives in reading rooms of archives services;
- immunity for bona fide people who have come into possession of stolen archives and bring these back to the archives service.

It is urgently recommended that a comparative study of the effectiveness of the various measures is carried out. Between archives and libraries the exchange of information on theft and thieves can be improved.

A special danger threatens private archives, which are not always meant to be kept in public archives services. In some countries there is a market for trade in private archives. At these antiques fairs also documents stolen from public archives can found.

The struggle against illegal traffic in old documents whether at national or at European level has scarcely begun. Experience with various reclaiming processes, for instance those by the Directorate of French Archives, show the current lack of preparedness of most archive services when faced with a theft or with the need to make a claim.

It would appear from recent experience that national archival administrations have only limited means at their disposal for the recovery of these constituent parts of their national heritage. In practice these documents, even if they are of an indisputably public nature cannot be reclaimed if they are put up for sale abroad. Even though the European Union directive allows the exercise of such a claim in the case of documents which left their land of origin after 1993, it would seem practically impossible to determine as a matter of fact the date on which the document left the country, except in the case of obvious theft.

The danger is that in order to avoid the process of claim in the country of origin, unscrupulous traders will put documents up for sale abroad, and that this practice will expand for lack of means on the part of archive administrations to do anything about it.

It is desirable and even urgent in these circumstances that there should be Europe wide coordination in drawing public attention to such practices, so as to enable countries to regain possession of heritage items which have been removed from public collections.

... The Paths of Library Crime History ...
I said at the beginning of this report that the subject of my keynote speech at the Copenhagen Conference two years ago was concepts and elements of a security policy based on two case studies from the Royal Library spanning twenty years, of which the latter was solved immediately, while the former had never been cleared up.

I'm happy today to be able to inform you that the former case - 25 years after the discovery in 1978 that thefts of an almost unbelievable size of valuable historical works on the cultural history of the Nordic countries had been going on over a long period of years – has now been almost completely solved. You have probably already heard about it, as the press coverage has been extensive, both in Europe and even worldwide. I will add that the Library itself has played a key role in solving the case, based on my long-standing policy of intervention and management by proactive action in such cases when they occur. We have carried it out with excellent cooperation from the Danish, British, and German police, resulting in the identification or return of more than 1,600 historical works of the 16th to 18th centuries, with an estimated value of more than 20 million Euros. (...) The story still has to be told in detail, and I know that we owe you that. You shall certainly get it in due course when the time is right, because, in the same way as it reflects one of the deepest tragedies in the history of the Royal Library, the investigation and return of 1,600 books is also one of the greatest success stories in the history of crime in and against libraries. It proves several of my many theses or theories of security, security risks, and staff involvement.