Declaration on the need for measures to protect the Roman Catholic Cathedral of St Joseph in Bucharest, Romania, an endangered historical and architectural monument

The European Parliament adopted a written declaration firmly condemning the unlawful construction of a skyscraper, which is being built only eight metres from St Joseph's Cathedral in Bucharest.  The skyscraper has four basement levels and 20 storeys, and is being built inside the protection area laid down for this historic monument under Romanian law. Parliament stated that the competent authorities in Romania are systematically refusing to apply either the provisions of national law on protecting historic monuments or the provisions of Community law on safeguarding the cultural and architectural heritage. The new building is endangering two buildings belonging to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bucharest: St Joseph's Cathedral and the Roman Catholic Metropolitan Palace, both of which appear on the list of historic architectural monuments in Romania.

Parliament called upon the Commission and the Council to condemn firmly the attitude of the Romanian authorities and initiate the necessary legal proceedings in order to persuade the relevant authorities to fulfil their Community-law obligations as regards conserving and safeguarding the cultural and architectural heritage, in accordance with Article 151 of the EC Treaty.