 My name is Leonard Witt. I'm president of the European Archaeological Council. Actually, the official name is in Latin. That's of course the compromise in Europe already. And my sign says Europe. I really like that. I really like that. But it's all about what can the archaeological community do to be more influential. That was my title. And you would have shown up anyhow, I think. First, some words about European Archaeological Council. I'll be quick on that one. That's an organization of organizations, governmental organizations, who deal with archaeology throughout Europe. We are active in 28 countries. But there are more organizations behind it. For instance, Belgium, you've got three. UK, you've got four. Germany, you've got 17. They're not all a member, but we deal with 28 countries. What we do is every year we have annual symposium. The next one is in Dublin. Then it says 20 years, so there will be a feast. You can still send in an abstract if you want to make a contribution to that subject. OK, what we do more? We've got working groups. We've been active on these issues. We come up with guidelines. We publish. Now, these are all books. But now we publish digitally. So internet archaeology is our latest two publications are on internet archaeology. And we made some small leaflet so that the old fashioned archaeologists are satisfied as well. OK, that's what we do. We've got our strategic document. That's the Amersfoort agenda. And there are all nice things in it. And actually, we're working with that document. So that is the European Archaeological Council, a governmental organization. So state agencies, things like that. But the point, and that's my first point, when you're a governmental organization, that's something really different from an NGO. So the European Archaeological Council cannot engage in advocacy. So we cannot stand up for archaeology in Europe and make a point of it to politicians or whatever, because most of the time we are civil servants. But we can do other things and promote that other people do. And we got a really weak point in European archaeology who is standing up for archaeology to who. And that's actually the crash course I want to take you into. OK, five steps became six. I just mentioned five. My wife said take five, and then I came up with six. But first, I'm going to, who of you thinks, thinks he knows a little bit about how Europe works. Sophie, you should say yes. My point is that it's very rare that archaeologists know anything about how Europe works. But at least you should know the basics. So you better pay attention now, because the basics are real. It's very complicated, and you can make it very complicated. But the basics are actually quite simple. So understanding the system, understanding how Europe works, and then you might put your problems on the right table. If you've got one to solve a problem and put it on the wrong table, you're lost, and that's a waste of energy. OK, I'm going to understanding Europe. These are the three most important governmental organizations that are behind it. They have all got it, but they all have one thing in common. These organizations started to come up after World War II. And that's a good reason for that. Last year I gave a keynote lecture on that, so I won't repeat myself. But it's all about prosperity, peace, using culture and education, things like that, in order to have a prosperous world and to live in peace. That's the main goal of these organizations. I won't go into UNESCO, that's the World Organization, but of course it's very relevant for Europe as well. But I will talk about these two. So this is the result of what these organizations produce. A lot, these are all treaties. A lot of treaties. So the countries you come from, they just sign up, and say, what is in these treaties? They say yes to that. So who knows what is in these treaties? You barely know. But it might be important, because if you know what is in these treaties, you might remember, and you might remind governments or governmental organizations what they have to live up to. For instance, the World Heritage Treaty, almost 190 countries signed the ratified World Heritage Treaty. And it's not only about World Heritage Site, it says also we're going to take care of the Heritage Treaty Article 5. OK, I wasn't going into the UNESCO Convention. And now we see something peculiar, almost no legislation or treaties for the, yeah, there are lots of treaties under the European Union, but not for the protection of heritage. They're at the Council of Europe. And there's a reason for that. And you have to know that reason. You have to understand that. Otherwise, you might get lost in the European space. The European Union, that's the first one I want to talk about. OK, a little bit of legislation. This is the Lisbon Treaty, the Constitution. It's the Constitution of the European Union. And it has nice words for culture and cultural heritage in it. That's OK. And alls and promos and so it's a good thing. And so you can go to the European Union and expect something of it. But there's one dissentence you have to remember, excluding any harmonization of the laws and the regulations of the member states. So that's one of the principles of the European Union. Whatever can be regulated on a lower level, on the state level, on the country level, that's what it should be. And even the European Union doesn't have jurisdiction to come up with rules to protect the heritage. It doesn't have jurisdiction. It says in its constitution, we don't have jurisdiction. So it's useless to go to the European Union and ask them to come up with some kind of directive to say, well, we're going to harmonize all these different levels of protection throughout Europe. It's all about subsidiarity. They won't do it. They don't have jurisdiction. And it's political, unthinkable that it will happen right now. I mean, with Brexit and all that. So of course, you could argue that the Lisbon Treaty has to be changed because of archaeology. Waste of energy. Waste of energy. Don't go into that. Don't go into that. That's no good. So that's about the legal part. But there are lots of things are possible with the European Union. They come up with environmental directives. And of course, the agricultural landscape, the agricultural policy is very important for the cultural landscape. I mean, it's all about income support of farmers. And what do we get back from these farmers? But we're supporting our farmers. And what do they do for them? That's an interesting question. But that's also very big, the common agricultural policy. But an elicit trade, of course, it's about trading. The EU has jurisdiction on trading artifacts. So there are directives right now. As UNESCO has a treaty for that, a two-treaties union. And even the Council of Europe thought of that. So there are directives regulating elicit trade of artifacts from illegal excavations or antiquities from museums. And that's important. The European Union can regulate that, because that is a jurisdiction. But other things, protecting your heritage, protecting your monuments and sites. OK, but above all, what can the European Union do? Support come up with the European Heritage Year, recommendations of ministers saying, and there's a lot of money over there. So I know that lots of archaeology throughout Europe deliver on the European Union. Because there's so much money in this research program. So that's something, when you look at these programs, use them, but you also can influence what programs are needed in order to promote and enhance the archaeology throughout Europe. That's so money. That's the very important thing that the European Union can provide. And actually, it does. And it does quite successfully. And I must say, quite handy, I'm not an archaeologist. It's myself. I'm always praising myself as the outsider. Of course, I've been for 20 years now. So actually, I cannot do that with the good state. And there's a very interesting thing going on since the Brugge Declaration under the presidency of Belgium. They thought, well, heritage is important. They came up with recommendations. And they installed a so-called informal EU reflection group on heritage protection. And that is a big colleague of mine who's in there. And they're close to the European Commission. And they're reflecting on all kinds of directories who come from the European Union. And actually, they produced a very good paper on the common agricultural policy, because they're starting right now again with that policy, with revising that policy. OK, two minutes. No, Council of Europe. Can I do a two minutes? OK, when you want to know about the Council of Europe, you have to know what they're involved in. Two things, they're a very poor organization, understaffed, but again, give legitimization to what we do. So you have to know their strategy. And if you come up with something, let it fit in the strategy. Well, how do you do that? You have to know that organization. That once in every year, this steering committee comes together in Strasbourg. And you can be an observer. EEC is an observer. And you can legitimize actions you do. And right now, EEC is doing that. We're coming up with guidance for making choices. So this organization can come up with treaties. They're legitimized to come up with treaties. So you have to know what to do. And it's our home base. The Velletta Treaty is in Strasbourg. The Council of Europe came up with the Velletta Treaty. Never think that the EU does. OK, seven steps. I'll be short on that. Understanding the system, know what table you have to address. Setting realistic goals. A lot of my colleagues, they want to change the world. And they say, well, the market-driven system isn't all right, and they want to change that. But we're not going to nationalize all these excavation companies. Come up with, say, something like more money for important excavations. That's a realistic proposal, but not changing the system. And keep it simple. Come up with simple answers. Make coalitions. For instance, the agricultural organization, they might be interested in that agriculture policy as well. And they are interested in income. So you can make a coalition with them. And there are more coalitions possible. OK, facts and figures are important. Of course, these are the NAAC facts and figures. But we did an investigation ourselves. You have to present them to this organization, and that works. And you say, oh, wow, they're important. And that's interesting. So who knows the NAAC in that? OK, that's very good, very sound research has been done. I like it. But what is the outcome? I mean, you have to present it and put it on the right table, and say, and have the right proposals to it. OK, so that is important. Hey, eight steps. Oh, my god, I will never hand it. Timing. Don't go to an argument. My archaeologists in the Netherlands, they go to parliament when there's just been decided on the budget for that year. And then one week later, they go to parliament. No, no, how parliament works. And when you come up with your proposal, if you don't do that right, well, it's a waste of energy again. Attitude, what can you? Stop talking among your archaeologists. Stop talking. I mean, that doesn't stop complaining all the time. Stop complaining about politicians. It doesn't help. They're human beings also. I mean, and treat them like human beings. And don't expect to. OK, seven, save energy. Stop talking about changing the political convention. It's just a waste of time. It won't happen. But what we can do is make an analysis of what is wrong in Europe and what can be done about that. And then you might think of some legal means. But the velet is not going to change. Be satisfied with the velet convention. It's all in there. It says, air, archaeology is important. You have to protect it. You have to connect it with spatial planning. You have to provide financial things and cooperate on an international level. It's all in there. And of course, you can. But you won't end up with a better treaty. I know that. And try and do something. I mean, it can be very simple. But we're all talking, talking, talking among each other. But I know for 20 years now, I think two letters have been sent to parliament in 20 years within Dutch archaeology. Whoever sent a letter, an attitude happened to a minister. OK, whoever, to parliament. OK, not bad. I want to read these numbers and change the proposal into realistic things. But at least do something. Do the simple thing. Don't think about what. Do the simple thing. This might be a good proposal. Put it on the right table at the right time and see what happens. So and then, well, this might happen. But then I even got back, which is on it. And you might fail, but at least you failed. And you might feel better next time. And you might be successful. And you might be surprised that people listen to you because your archaeologies are likable. That's two minutes. I don't know what to say. I don't know what to say. Thank you.