The European Community and Its Archives
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40 American Archivist / Vol. 55 / Winter 1992 European Archives in an Era of Change Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/55/1/40/2748321/aarc_55_1_504782446h23750x.pdf by guest on 02 October 2021 The European Community and Its Archives ERIC KETELAAR About the author: Eric Ketelaar is National Archivist of the Netherlands. For an expanded introduction see the Gallery of Contributors at the end of the issue. Abstracts in English, French, German, and Spanish follow the article. "ROLL UP THAT MAP; it will not be wanted bourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain— these ten years."1 With these words Wil- with countries like Austria, Malta, Mo- liam Pitt discarded a map of Europe after rocco, Sweden, and Turkey on the waiting hearing the news of the Battle of Austerlitz list for membership.2 Correlated with this (1805) in which Napoleon defeated the em- perors of Russia and Austria. Likewise, a map of today's Europe will be out of date 2After World War II, there was an organized effort shortly, as a result not of military actions to insure Europe's future strength and security through but of political and economic integration. the formation of three international communities within Europe. They are the European Coal and Steel Com- Borders between countries will continue to munity, the European Atomic Energy Community, and show on the map, but their practical im- the European Economic Community (also known as portance is diminishing. Beginning 1 Jan- the Common Market). The three are known collec- tively as the European Community. The European Coal uary 1993, the following twelve countries and Steel Community, founded in 1952, was the first of the European Community (EC) will con- of the European Communities. The European Eco- stitute one common trade and monetary ter- nomic Community was established in 1957 and the formation of the European Atomic Energy Commu- ritory without inner borders and barriers: nity occurred in 1958. These three communities uni- Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Great fied their efforts even further in 1967 by consolidating Britain, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxem- their separate executives into one commission for the European Communities. The European Commission is the executive branch of the European Community; it proposes and implements treaties through the au- thority of the European Community's Council of Min- 'Philip Henry Stanhope, Life of the Right Honour- isters. The European Parliament performs the legislative able William Pitt (London: J. Murray, 1862), 4:369. functions of the European Community, and the judi- The European Community and Its Archives 41 Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/55/1/40/2748321/aarc_55_1_504782446h23750x.pdf by guest on 02 October 2021 Le Triomphe des Armees Franchises, Monsaldy sculps. A Paris, chez Jean (1797). In the decades that followed the French Revolution the map publishers could hardly keep up with the changing boundaries in Europe. This map gives an idea of French expansion in 1797. In the center General Pichegru shows how he conquered the territory of what is now Belgium and the Netherlands. converging Europe of twelve cooperating Jr., confirmed that "Europe is an enor- countries is the heterogeneous transforma- mously complex amalgamation of political tion of the political and economic systems systems, social and cultural traditions, and in Central and Eastern Europe. states with various histories . .. each coun- "Europe is united by its differences," try has a distinct approach to the manage- wrote Peter Sigmond in his paper on "Di- ment of its historical records."4 vergences and Convergences of Archives: Out of this potpourri of systems, cul- a European Looks at North America," pre- tures, and languages, an integrated Europe sented at the Second European Conference has to grow. Within the EC that integration on Archives in 1989.3 His American coun- is activated by the harmonization of legis- terpart at the conference, Francis X. Blouin, lation and practice. Complying with direc- tives of the European Commission, each country has either to adapt its existing leg- islation or to pass new legislation in order cial branch of the European Community is its Court of Justice. 3Peter Sigmond, "Divergences and Convergences of Archives: a European Looks at North America," in Proceedings of the Second European Conference 4Francis X. Blouin, Jr., "Convergences and Di- on Archives, ed. Judy Koucky (Paris: International vergences in Archival Tradition: A North American Council on Archives, 1989), 5. Perspective," Koucky, 22. 42 American Archivist / Winter 1992 to guarantee the free circulation of goods, are accessible after their transfer to an ar- employees, and services. In principle, any chival repository. But the retention period preferential treatment of one nationality is for keeping records in the offices of origin forbidden. For example, public bids for ranges from between twenty-five years in government buildings and works estimated Spain to fifty years in the Netherlands. In to cost over 460,000 Dutch guilders (ap- the Netherlands that period is to be short- Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/55/1/40/2748321/aarc_55_1_504782446h23750x.pdf by guest on 02 October 2021 proximately 275,000 American dollars) have ened to twenty years in the near future. to be open to contractors from every coun- Other countries have determined access dates try in the EC. To arrive at a true equality, regardless of whether the records are still national particularities which are an obsta- in the offices of origin or transferred to a cle to free circulation and equal treatment records centre or an archives: Denmark (fifty of all Europeans have to be demolished. years), Germany (thirty years), and the Obstacles were the subject of Michel United Kingdom (thirty years). The thirty- Duchein's RAMP study commissioned by year rule is also applied by the EC to its UNESCO and entitled "Obstacles to the own records. In some countries, like France Access, Use, and Transfer of Information and the Netherlands, access is governed not from Archives."5 Thanks to American ef- only by archival legislation but also by forts, facilitating access to archives is a freedom of information legislation. priority of the International Council on Ar- Under the leadership of Michel Duchein, chives.6 It also ranks high on the harmo- experts from the national archives of the nization agenda recently established by the twelve EC countries are currently working national archivists of the twelve EC coun- on the harmonization of both legal and tries. In setting such a high priority for ac- practical rules concerning access. This ex- cess, they responded to a major pert committee will report to the group of preoccupation of researchers, as it has been twelve national archivists. The group of demonstrated by Richard Griffiths of the twelve national archivists, established in European University Institute in Florence.7 1990 under the auspices of the International In his 1990 project report, Griffiths criti- Council on Archives, has succeeded in put- cizes the great differences, not so much in ting archival policy on the agenda of the legislation on access as in actual practice, European Council of Ministers. The coun- citing the unequal treatment of foreigners, cil of ministers recently invited the Euro- privileged access for "official historians," pean Commission to set up a group of cruelly short opening hours, limits on the experts—these experts to be proposed by number of boxes one can order, and other the member states and appointed by the practices. commission—for the purpose of examining General access practices vary. In Italy, to what extent greater harmonization of ar- Luxembourg, Portugal, and Spain, records chives policy and practice is desirable within the European Community. The commis- sion is to transmit the group's progress re- 3 port to the council of ministers before the Michel Duchein, Obstacles to the Access, Use and Transfer of Information from Archives: a RAMP Study end of 1992. This group of experts will (Paris: UNESCO, 1983). have official European Community status, 6 James B. Rhoads, "North American Contributions whereas the national archivists from the to International Archival Endeavors," Miscellanea Carlos Wyffels= Archives et Bibliotheques de Bel- twelve member countries will continue to gique 57 (1986): 309-322. meet on an informal basis. It is likely that 7Richard T. Griffiths, Challenge and Response in Western Europe: the History of European Integration, the national archivists will also be among EUI Research Project Report (Florence: Villa il Pog- the group of experts as will archivists of giolo, 1990). European Community institutions. The European Community and Its Archives 43 Harmonization and convergence at na- ropean Commission and the other Euro- tional levels are required, but these efforts pean Community institutions have their own should be coordinated with a coherent ar- records centres to which the secretariats are chival policy set for the records of EC in- supposed to transfer their non-current rec- stitutions themselves. These institutions ords. In each records centre the material is Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/55/1/40/2748321/aarc_55_1_504782446h23750x.pdf by guest on 02 October 2021 include the European Commission, the Eu- indexed and prepared for transfer to Flor- ropean Parliament, and the European Court ence. One of the aims of a European ar- of Justice, among others. Growing Euro- chival policy should be to achieve more pean integration will lead to a shift in de- coherence in the records and archives man- cision making from institutions on the agement of the EC institutions. Jaitner has national level to those on the intergovern- complained that "At present there is no mental and supranational level. With this logical, unitary archives structure with pre- shift in the transaction of business, the rec- cisely described competences and tasks."10 ords of the European institutions are in- With regard to appraisal, attention is being creasing in volume and in importance.