Governance and Policies on Cultural Heritage Protection in the European Union

Doctoral Thesis / Dissertation from the year 2022 in the subject Cultural Studies - European Studies, grade: 1.0, Angel Kanchev University of Ruse, language: English, abstract: Concerned with the policy and administration developments in regard to cultural heritage across Central and Eastern Europe, the research question of the dissertation is to determine whether the decentralisation and the inclusion of private stakeholders such as companies and civil society in that sector would provide more sufficient sustainability in economic and protection terms. Suggesting controversial results of these reforms, there is a methodology established that seeks thorough evaluation of law, tradition and practice. After initially revising the origin of these policy and administration changes through the UNESCO, the Council of Europe and especially the European Union, the research concentrates on a sample of nation states. Using both qualitative and quantitative data, each national case is regarded on its own, with assessment by the means of comparison at the end. On the basis of the outcomes, it could be concluded that there are not less financial and conservation repercussions exclusively due to the dissolution of the previously centralised heritage preservation systems.