THE UK Government has confirmed that it will not be returning the Parthenon Marbles, originally removed by a Scottish earl, to Greece as part of trade negotiations with the European Union.
Otherwise known as the Elgin Marbles, the Classical Greek sculptures date back to the fifth century BC and have long been the subject of controversy after Scottish nobleman Thomas Bruce, the 7th Earl of Elgin, removed half of them from the ancient Parthenon temple over 200 years ago.
The Fife-born aristocrat oversaw the shipping off of the huge collection of marbles to England in 1803. The Acropolis Museum in Athens, which has the remaining sculptures that were left in Greece, has left space empty for their return as part of its current display.
But a leaked draft of Brussels's negotiation mandate had, according to reports, included a stipulation that Britain should "return unlawfully removed cultural objects to their countries of origin".
It was suggested that the definition could be applied to include the marbles, which are now on display in the British Museum.
But a Government spokeswoman has ruled out the prospect of discussing the re-homing of the sculptures during next month's trade talks.
The spokeswoman said: "The EU are still finalising their mandate – this is currently in draft.
"The UK's position on the Parthenon sculptures remains unchanged – they are legal responsibility of the British Museum. That is not up for discussion as part of our trade negotiations."
According to a document shared on social media, the EU's latest negotiating position called for the UK and Brussels to "address issues relating to the return or restitution of unlawfully removed cultural objects to their countries of origin".
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The Guardian had reported that the proposition had been argued for by Italy, Spain, Cyprus and Greece, but was about a desire to stop the fraudulent movement of antiquities around Europe rather than a direct reference to the marbles.
The rise in cross-Channel tensions comes as Michel Barnier, the EU's chief negotiator, warned that the UK could not expect to seal a trade similar to Canada's, despite the Prime Minister pushing for such a free trade agreement.
Barnier reportedly told journalists in Brussels that Britain was too much of a close competitor geographically to have a Canada-type arrangement.
The EU deal with Canada, which took seven years to hammer out, saw import tariffs on most goods eliminated between the two, though some customs and VAT checks remain.
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