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Deposit of the historical archives of the institutions at the European University Institute in Florence

2012/0221(APP)

PURPOSE: to regularise the existing partnership with the EUI (European University Institute in Florence) as regards the deposit of the historical archives of the European Union institutions at the EUI.

PROPOSED ACT: Council Regulation.

LEGAL BASIS: Article 352 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).

CONTENT: this proposed Regulation seeks to ensure that the EU institutions deposit their historical archives at the EUI in Florence (IT) which will make them available to the public.

A series of measures have been envisaged to facilitate this deposit.

For further information concerning the main provision of this proposed Regulation, as well as its financial implications for the European Union’s budget, please refer to the summary of the Commission’s initial legislative proposal, dated 16/08/2012.

The Council’s revised version however includes a number of changes to the initial draft Regulation.

These changes may be summarised as follows:

  • emphasis on digitisation: the institutions and EUI should, where possible, make the historical archives available to the public in digitised and digital form, so as to facilitate their consultation on the internet;
  • derogation from the requirement to deposit archives: the depositing institutions may, for legal or administrative reasons, exclude the deposit of certain original documents at the EUI. In any event, the depositing institutions shall retain the ownership of their archives, as well as exclusive responsibility for the composition of the documents and files that are deposited at or otherwise made available to the EUI;
  • framework agreement between the Parties: it is proposed to establish in a framework partnership agreement all the detailed provisions on the mutual roles and responsibilities of the institutions and of the EUI for the management of the historical archives of the Union, including their deposit, preservation, access and public consultation;
  • management costs: the costs for the management of the historical archives of the Union shall be financed through contributions by all depositing institutions to the relevant budget line, within the limits of the yearly appropriations made available by the budgetary authority. Such financial contributions shall not cover costs related to the provision and adaptation of the buildings and repositories to house the archives and its staff. The size of the contributions shall be proportionate to the size of the respective establishment plans of the depositing institutions. Each contribution shall be recalculated whenever additional institutions begin to deposit their historical archives at the EUI or at least every five years;
  • staff responsibility: the EUI shall be solely responsible for the staff called on to manage the historical archives of the Union deposited at the EUI.