The Cultural Affairs Committee did not send heritage impact assessment to UNESCO

The Cultural Affairs Committee continues to hold the position that the impact assessment is incomplete and contains errors, which should be corrected before it is forwarded. This position was also expressed by the Committee at its sitting on 10 March. Members of the Committee have also underlined that sending a deficient assessment would not be in the interests of the Estonian culture and would be harmful to Estonia.

The Minister of Culture has stated at the Committee sitting that an explanation of the cultural policy relevance of the annex to the Estonian National Opera would be included in the preamble of the impact assessment, and the Committee would be able to add its cover letter to the document.

The Commission points out that the heritage impact assessment has to be submitted on behalf of the state of Estonia and signed by the head of the governmental authority responsible for the area, and that it has to be clearly documented who submitted the heritage impact assessment and when. Regrettably, this has not been done. According to UNESCO, the documents must be forwarded through the Department of Cultural Heritage of the Ministry of Culture.

Last week, the Committee also discussed the fact that, as a working document had been forwarded to UNESCO through unofficial channels, it was only natural that UNESCO would be informed that it was impossible to form an opinion on the basis of that document. When the document is ready, it will be forwarded to UNESCO, digitally signed, and through official channels.

Riigikogu Press Service
Merilin Kruuse
+372 631 6592; +372 510 6179
merilin.kruuse@riigikogu.ee
Questions: press@riigikogu.ee

Link uudisele: The Cultural Affairs Committee did not send heritage impact assessment to UNESCO

Source: Parliament of Estonia