Second Meeting of European World Heritage Associations

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC-15/39.COM/10A,
2. Recalling Decisions 36 COM 10B, 37 COM 10B and 38 COM 10A.2, adopted at its 36th (Saint-Petersburg, 2012), 37th (Phnom Penh, 2013) and 38th (Doha, 2014) sessions respectively,
3. Expresses its sincere appreciation for the considerable efforts made by all States Parties in Europe in submitting the Periodic Reporting questionnaires and thanks all the Focal Points and Site Managers for their participation and commitment;
4. Also thanks the authorities of Azerbaijan, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Romania and Sweden for their support in organizing regional and sub-regional meetings in collaboration with the World Heritage Centre since the end of the First Cycle of Periodic Reporting;
5. Further thanks the Finnish authorities for successfully organising the final regional meeting (Helsinki, Finland, 1-2 December 2014) to discuss the outcomes of the Second Cycle of the Periodic Reporting exercise and develop, with the active participation of the Focal Points, the Framework Action Plan for Europe;
6. Commends the World Heritage Centre for the production of a number of tools to guide and assist Focal Points and Site Managers (online Periodic Reporting platform, handbook, video tutorials, FAQ); for the technical support provided throughout the exercise; for making the Summary Reports for each property and State Party available publically on its website as soon as possible after submission, in agreement with the States Parties; and for sharing the national Periodic Reporting datasets with the relevant national authorities;
7. Welcomes with satisfaction the Final Report on the Second Cycle of Periodic Reporting in Europe and encourages the States Parties to widely disseminate the Report among all relevant stakeholders in the region;
8. Acknowledges and endorses the Second Cycle Framework Action Plan for Europe (“Helsinki Action Plan”) and its three core objectives (Identification and Protection of Outstanding Universal Value; Effective Management of World Heritage Properties; Increased Awareness of the Convention), and takes note with appreciation of the joint efforts by the World Heritage Centre, the Focal Points and the Advisory Bodies to produce a Framework Action Plan in an innovative format, in order to facilitate its appropriation and integration into national, sub-regional and regional strategies;
9. Strongly encourages the States Parties to integrate all relevant elements of the Helsinki Action Plan into to their national strategies for World Heritage;
10. Also encourages the States Parties to make use of all the data and information provided to them during the Second Cycle of Periodic Reporting to implement the Action Plan at all levels, in particular with regard to the management of World Heritage properties (including management plans, sustainable tourism strategies, disaster and risk preparedness strategies, etc.);
11. Further encourages the States Parties to collaborate at regional and/or sub-regional level to ensure the implementation of this Action Plan, for instance by organising regular (sub-) regional meetings;
12. Requests the States Parties to devote the necessary technical and financial resources to implementing the Action Plan at all levels, and also requests the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies to provide technical support at the request of States Parties;
13. Welcomes the World Heritage Centre’s initiative to share the results of a short monitoring survey with the States Parties every two years, in order to assist them in the implementation of the Action Plan, and further encourages the States Parties to actively support this pilot follow-up initiative;
14. Decides that the significant modifications to boundaries and changes to criteria (re- nominations) requested by the States Parties in Europe as a follow-up to the Second Cycle of Periodic Reporting will not fall within the limit of two nominations per State Party per year imposed by Paragraph 61 of the Operational Guidelines, while they will still fall within the overall yearly limit for complete nominations established by the Operational Guidelines. This decision shall apply for the 1 February 2016 and 1 February 2017 deadlines for Europe, after which the normal limits established in Paragraph 61 will be resumed;
15. Further notes that  the  follow-up  to  the  Second  Cycle  of  Periodic  Reporting  has considerable resource and workload implications for the World Heritage Centre, the Advisory Bodies and the States Parties, and further encourages the States Parties not only to make all the resources necessary for this follow-up available at national level, but also to support the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies;
16. Finally requests the World Heritage Centre to prepare a progress report on the follow-up to the Second Cycle of Periodic Reporting for examination at its 40th session in 2016.