Report on Archives in the enlarged European Union Increased archival cooperation in Europe: action plan Elaborated by the National Experts Group on Archives of the EU-Member States and EU-Institutions and Organs at the request of the Council of the European Union CONTENTS Introduction I-VI Executive Summary VII-X Part 1 : The organisation of the archival sector in Europe 1a: Archives and the European Institutions 1-7 1b: Public Archives in the 25 Member States of the European 8-28 Union 1c: Archives Services and Public Administration: Interrelations 29-34 and cooperation 1d: Private archives 35-38 Part 2 : Access to archives: institutional, technical and professional aspects 2a: EU and national legislation relevant to management and 39-47 access to documents and archives 2b: Finding aids and description of documents and archives 48-54 2c: Access on line and new research tools 55-58 2d: Internet Gateway to documents and archives in Europe 59-79 and European networking projects 2e: Practical aspects of access : reading room standards 80-85 2f: Appraisal and selection of documents 86-89 2g: Document and archives management 90-93 Part 3 : The role of the archivist in the 21st century, training, recognition of diplomas 3a: The role of the archivist as the guardian of the memory 94-95 of society 3b: The archivist as provider of authentic information and his 96-98 relations with the public: towards more democracy, accountability and good governance 3c: Archives training with particular emphasis on future needs 99-104 3d: Recognition of archival diplomas throughout Europe 105-108 Part 4 : Preservation and damage prevention to archives in Europe 4a: Measures for damage prevention to archives through 109-111 natural and other catastrophes 4b: Preservation and restoration of documents and archives 112-118 4c: Archives purpose buildings: standards and specifications 119-124 at the national and European level Part 5 : Electronic Archives 5a: Authenticity and long term preservation of electronic 125-132 documents and archives 5b: Interdisciplinary cooperation on electronic archives: 133-137 DLM Forum, norms, best practices Part 6 : Action Plan e-Europe and other relevant 138-141 activities at the European level Part 7 : Audiovisual Archives 142-150 Part 8: Annexes 151-174 INTRODUCTION 1. RESOLUTION OF 6 MAY 2003 With regard to the recent enlargement of the European Union increasing the number of Member States from 15 to 25 and in the light of the rapid changes in archival practice, especially due to the development of new information technologies, over the last ten years, the Council of the European Union adopted on 6 May 2003 a resolution (1) on archives in the Member States. This resolution invited the European Commission: - To convene a National Experts Group on archives representing the then fifteen EU Member States and the ten acceding countries, to examine the situation of public archives in Europe; - To submit to the Council a report that would include orientations for increased future cooperation on archives at the European level. The National Experts Group, which consisted of some 50 representatives of the 25 Member States and the EU Institutions and Organs, completed the Report on archives in the enlarged European Union and agreed on an Executive Summary (pages VII-X) of the Report in June 2004. Three plenary meetings of the National Experts Group took place in Brussels on 14 October 2003, 17 February and 3 June 2004 to establish the Report. At the request of the plenary meeting of the National Experts Group, additional meetings of two subgroups (the Editorial Working Group and the Drafting Group on orientations for increased archival cooperation in Europe) were organized in Brussels from December 2003 to June 2004, in order to facilitate timely progress on the Report. The Commission chaired/co-chaired the plenary and additional meetings and provided secretariat services. 2. 1991-2004 The Resolution of 6 May 2003 builds on previous archival activities at the European level. The concept of greater cooperation of Archives in Europe was officially initiated in the second half of 1991 by the Netherlands, which at that time held the Presidency of the European Union. The resulting first Report on Archives in the European Union was published by the Commission and favourably received by the Council in 1994. The subsequent Council conclusions of 17 June 1994 have led to a number of important results, in particular the organization of the European multidisciplinary DLM-Forums I, II and III (Brussels 1996, 1999 and Barcelona 2002) on electronic documents and archives and the production of INSAR (Information Summary on Archives), a periodical news review of developments in the field of archives in Europe. Both INSAR and the DLM-Forum are Commission initiatives that have been developed in close collaboration with the Member States. The main goal of the DLM-Forum is to investigate, promote and implement wider cooperation in the field of electronic documents and archives both between the Member States and at the Community level. Among the concrete results of the DLM-Forums are the I publications of the proceedings and conclusions of the DLM-Forums I, II and III (INSAR European Archives News, Supplements II, 1997; IV, 2000; VII, 2002; http://europa.eu.int/historical_archives/dlm_forum); multidisciplinary guidelines on machine readable data (INSAR, supplement III, 1997); better access to electronic information for the citizen: the relationship between public administration and archives services concerning electronic documents and archives management (INSAR, supplement V, 2001); European Model Requirements (MoReq) for the management of electronic records: MoReq specifications (INSAR, supplement VI, 2002). More details on continuing DLM priority activities can be found in the Report (chapter 5b, pages 131-135). Given the numerous new developments in the field of archives in Europe since the above mentioned 1991 Council resolution and the 1994 national experts' report ("Blackbook") and on the basis of Art. 151 of the EC-Treaty concerning institutional cooperation, the National Archivists of the Member States brought forward a new draft Council resolution on greater archival coordination in Europe, at their meeting in Lund on 4 April 2001 during the then Swedish EU-Presidency. This draft resolution was amended and reinforced at subsequent meetings during the successive EU-Presidencies of Belgium, Spain, Denmark, Greece and has led to the adoption of the above mentioned Council Resolution of 6 May 2003 and the completion of the present Report in 2004 (see point 1 above). 3. CONTENTS AND STRUCTURE OF THE REPORT In accordance with the Council Resolution of 6 May 2003 (cf. Resolution points 8a-8e and 9), the National Experts Group discussed and agreed on the contents and the structure of the Report which, in addition to this introduction and the Executive Summary, is presented in the following eight parts: * Part one: chapters 1a-1d (pages 1-39) describe the organization of the archival sector in Europe: archives and the European Institutions; the public archives services in the 25 Member States ; the interrelations and cooperation between Archives Services and public administration ; private archives. * Part two: chapters 2a-2g (pages 40-93) deal with institutional, technical and professional aspects of access to archives. Particular emphasis is placed on relevant EU and national legislation; finding aids and archival description; access on line and new research tools; setting up an Internet Gateway/Portal to documents and archives in Europe and cooperation with European networking projects in this field; reading room standards; appraisal, selection and other aspects of document and archives management. * Part three: chapters 3a-3d (pages 94-108) relate to the specific role of the archivist in the 21st century as guardian of the memory of society and the provider of authentic archival information for the public in order to enhance democracy, accountability and good governance, as well as to future training requirements and the possible recognition of archival diplomas throughout Europe, enabling archivists to carry out their role in the 21st century. * Part four: chapters 4a-4c (pages 109-123) promote measures for the prevention of damage to archives in Europe through natural and other catastrophes; the preservation and restoration of documents and archives; the standards and specifications for archives purpose buildings at the national and European level. II * Part five: chapters 5a-5b (pages 124-135) focus on the reinforcement of Europe-wide interdisciplinary cooperation on the authenticity and long term preservation of electronic documents and archives and more specifically on the promotion of DLM Forum (Document Lifecycle Management) priority activities and the development of a European DLM-network. * Part six: chapter 6 deals with possibilities of further integration in the Report with other related activities in the archival field at the European level, in particular e-Europe and the Lisbon Strategy ; e-Europe Action Plans and archival digitization projects (pages 136-139). * Part seven: chapter 7 draws attention to audio-visual archives that are becoming increasingly important in the context of new multi-media applications at the national and European levels (pages 140-147), such as the follow-up to the Council Resolution of 24 November 2003 (Official Journal of the European Communities C 295/5 of 5.12.2003). * Part eight: contains four annexes as follows - 1) List of National Experts and representatives of the EU Institutions and Organs who have contributed to the elaboration of the Report ; 2) Other contributors and assisting experts who have helped to develop the Report ; 3) List of proposed concrete actions and future orientations : increased archival cooperation in Europe ; 4) List of acronyms and abbreviations. In order to make the Report easily readable, dynamic and coherent, the National Experts Group as well as other specialist contributors and assisting experts (see Annexes 1 and 2 of the Report) have referred to the detailed responses provided by the National Archives Service in each EU Member State to a common questionnaire.