Patrimonio mondiale e sovranità degli Stati: un'alternativa difficile da conciliare

The Author studies the procedures established under the Convention on the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage: concerning firstly, the inscription of the sites in the World Heritage List; secondly, the inscription of the sites in the List of World Heritage in Danger and thirdly, the exclusion of the sites from the World Heritage List. Very often, these mechanisms were subject to discussions upon the experience of the World Heritage Committee and upon the doctrine itself. An attempt to modify these procedures were made during the review of the Operational Guidelines for the application of the World Heritage Convention, nevertheless this activity is obstructed by the lack of will among States parties. The Author tries to clarify the problems caused by these procedures in the world heritage protection activity, supported by some cases studies: the Kakadu National Park (Australia), the Historic Centre of Vienna (Austria), the Kathmandu Valley (Nepal) and the Cologne Cathedral (Germany).