The paper analyses a series of EU moves to expand its role in heritage policy, from competitions to choose heritage to regulatory action to protect certain forms of heritage, such as the audiovisual field. It analyses why the EU’s role has grown slowly and its regulation has been rather limited, but also its focus on particular forms of cultural heritage. It discusses the constraints on EU action such as national government, non-EU European and international organisations, and financial and legal limits. However it also underlines the incremental nature of EU policy making and the importance of legal support linked to the single market. Hence it underlines the limitations on the EU acquiring a political identity akin to that of modern nation states but also the gradual development of action in certain fields clearly linked to trade and powerful economic interests.