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

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.

LEGISLATIVE ACT: Council Regulation (EU) 2015/496 amending Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 354/83 as regards the deposit of the historical archives of the institutions at the European University Institute in Florence.

CONTENT: under this Regulation, each institution, other than the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and the European Central Bank (ECB), shall deposit at the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence the documents which are part of its historical archives and which it has opened to the public.

In 1984, the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission decided to deposit their historical archives at the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence where they are made available to the public. A contract between the European Communities, represented by the Commission, and the EUI was signed for this purpose on 17 December 1984.

The Italian government has made suitable premises available on a permanent basis and free of charge to the EUI to ensure that the deposited archives are preserved and protected in accordance with recognised international standards and to provide the possibility for on-site consultation.

The purpose of the deposit of the historical archives of the institutions at the EUI is to provide access to these archives from a single location, to promote their consultation and to stimulate research into the history of European integration and the European institutions.

Purpose: the aim of this Regulation is to ensure the continued deposit of the historical archives of the institutions at the EUI to be incorporated into Union legislation in order to reflect the role of the EUI as a partner of the institutions in the management of their historical archives. Detailed provisions for the management of the historical archives at the EUI, including their deposit, access and public consultation, as well as the mutual roles and responsibilities of the institutions and of the EUI, should be set out in a framework partnership agreement.

Costs: the costs for managing the historical archives of the Union by the EUI should be financed from the general budget of the Union and those costs should be borne 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.

The EUI shall be solely responsible for the staff called on to manage the historical archives of the Union deposited at the EUI.

Scope: this Regulation should apply to all institutions, and should not alter their responsibility to open their historical archives to the public nor the ownership by each institution of its historical archives. However, the specific nature of the activities of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and the European Central Bank (ECB) justifies their exclusion from the obligation set out in this Regulation to deposit their historical archives at the EUI. The CJEU and the ECB may deposit their historical archives at the EUI on a voluntary basis.

The depositing institutions may, for legal or administrative reasons, exclude the deposit of certain original documents at the EUI. In that case, they shall deposit a microform or digital copy of such documents. 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.

Digitalisation of the archives: 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. The EUI shall ensure the preservation and protection of deposited archives. This preservation and protection shall comply with recognised international standards for the physical protection of archives and shall at least respect the technical and security rules that correspond with those used for the preservation and management of public archives in Italy.

Data protection: personal data contained in the historical archives of the Union deposited at the EUI should be processed in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data.

Annex: an annex lays down the provisions for the deposit of the historical archives of the institutions at the European University Institute in Florence. In the case of non-digital archives, the original documents shall be deposited at the EUI for permanent preservation. The depositing institutions shall return the originals to the EUI as soon as they no longer need them.

ENTRY INTO FORCE: 26.3.2015.