Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2012)456 - Amendment of Regulation (EEC/Euratom) No 354/83, as regards the deposit of the historical archives of the institutions at the European University Institute in Florence - Main contents
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This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2012)456 - Amendment of Regulation (EEC/Euratom) No 354/83, as regards the deposit of the historical archives of the institutions at ... |
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| source | COM(2012)456  |
| date | 16-08-2012 |
A Council Regulation i adopted in February 1983 requires the institutions, as defined in article 1 of that Regulation, to establish historical archives and to open them to the public once they are 30 years old. It enables each institution to hold its historical archives in whatever place it considers most appropriate.
In 1984, the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission agreed to deposit their historical archives at the European University Institute in Florence (EUI) where they are made available to the public. Since then, the European Court of Auditors, the European Economic and Social Committee and the European Investment Bank have also decided to deposit their archives at the EUI. The terms of the deposit are covered by a contract dated 17 December 1984 between the European Communities, represented by the Commission, and the EUI.
The Italian government makes available to the EUI, permanently and free of charge, suitable premises to house the archives. This ensures that the archives deposited are preserved and protected in accordance with recognised international standards.
The purpose of depositing the historical archives of the institutions at the EUI is to provide access to the archives from a single location, to promote their consultation and to stimulate research into the history of European integration and the European institutions.
The proposal aims to confirm the role of the EUI in managing the historical archives of the institutions. It will create a sound legal and financial basis for the partnership between the EU and the EUI.
The proposal provides for the deposit of the historical archives of the institutions at the EUI. All the institutions with the exception of the European Court of Justice and the European Central Bank will in future deposit their historical archives at the EUI once these archives have been opened to the public under the existing Regulation.
The proposal will not affect the ownership of the historical archives, which will remain with the depositing institutions, nor will it affect the existing rules under which the institutions decide which documents to open to the public after 30 years.
The operational and staff costs incurred by the EUI to manage the historical archives will be funded from the general budget of the EU, excluding any costs related to the provision and equipping of the building(s) and repositories to house the archives and its staff. The EUI will provide public access to the EU historical archives. This will, however, not exclude the institutions also giving public access to their own historical archives.
The proposal distinguishes between the deposit of paper and digital archives. Paper archives will continue to be physically deposited at, and preserved by, the EUI. However, the EUI will not need to preserve the digital archives for the purpose of providing access to these archives. The long-term preservation of digital archives will remain the responsibility of the originating institutions.
The proposal clarifies the responsibilities of the EUI for the protection of personal data contained in the historical archives of the institutions. It also provides that each institution shall adopt implementing rules for the application of Regulation 354/83 that include rules for the preservation, opening to the public and protection of personal data in the historical archives.
Contents
This proposal does not require an impact assessment.
The interested parties have been consulted. The EUI and Italy, as host institution and host government, have both given their support for the proposal. The administrative services of the EU institutions and the EU Agencies Network also support the aim of the proposal.
The European Court of Justice and the European Central Bank have asked to be excluded from the obligation to deposit their historical archives at the EUI. However, they do not rule out doing so in future on a voluntary basis. This is due to the nature of their activities and reflects current practice in many Member States for the historical archives of similar bodies.
The proposal provides for the deposit of the historical archives by the institutions at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy, where they will be made available to the public by the EUI.
The legal basis of the proposal is article 352 of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union.
Council Regulation 354/83 and its amendment in 2003 were adopted under article 308 TEC, the predecessor to article 352 TFEU. The current proposal will not affect the purpose of Regulation 354/83, i.e. the opening of the archives of the institutions after 30 years. It simply determines that they will be deposited at the EUI once the institutions concerned have opened them to the public in accordance with the existing Regulation. This formally recognises the existing situation, as most institutions that have opened their archives already deposit these at the EUI.
Article 3 i TUE provides that the EU shall respect, inter alia, its rich cultural diversity and that it shall ensure that Europe's cultural heritage is safeguarded and enhanced. The Historical Archives of the institutions form part of the Europe's cultural heritage and their opening to the public thus serves primarily academic, educational and cultural objectives. The Union has been granted powers to adopt measures to support, coordinate or supplement the actions of Member States in these areas, but the Treaties do not provide for the necessary powers with regard to the historical archives of the institutions.
The use of another legal basis would lead to a proposal for a new Regulation and as a consequence all the provisions of Council Regulation 354/83, including its fundamental principles, would be open to debate. This would go far beyond the objective of the proposal as described above.
The possibility of basing the proposal on article 15 i TFEU was examined, but rejected for the following reasons:
The primary objective of establishing the historical archives is to select documents on the basis of their enduring administrative, historical or evidentiary value to preserve and share the historical legacy of the institutions. Each institution pro-actively opens its historical archives to the public after 30 years and provides supplementary information that helps to place these archives in their organisational and functional context. That goes well beyond the public right of access to documents under article 15 i TFEU, whose purpose is primarily to promote good governance and ensure the participation of members of the public in the decision-making process of the institutions.
The use of article 15 i TFEU would reduce the scope of application of the rules governing the opening of historical archives since the European Central Bank, the European Investment Bank and the European Court of Justice, which are today governed by Regulation 354/83, would only be subject to a Regulation adopted on this basis when exercising their administrative tasks.
The proposal is limited to the deposit of the historical archives at the EUI by the institutions and the conditions under which the deposit will take place.
A Regulation is the only appropriate instrument for creating a sound legal and financial basis for the partnership between the EU and the EUI. The proposal concerns a limited amendment to an existing Regulation.
The proposal to make the deposit of the historical archives at the EUI obligatory will have no new budgetary implications in the short and medium term. The long-term budgetary implications are not expected to be significant.
The three largest institutions, the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission, as well as the European Economic and Social Committee, the European Court of Auditors and the European Investment Bank, already deposit their historical archives at the EUI. The management of these archives in Florence has been funded from the EU budget since the archives were first deposited at the EUI more than a quarter of a century ago. The Legislative Financial Statement provides for continuation of this funding. The costs shall be shared by the depositing institutions in relation to the work done by the EUI for their respective archives.
The housing for the archives and the offices of the staff managing the archives at the EUI are provided by the Italian government.
As a consequence of this amendment, the number of depositing institutions will increase. However, because the deposit concerns historical archives that have been opened to the public once they are 30 years old, it will be a considerable time before institutions other than those that already deposit their archives at the EUI will be affected by this proposal. Furthermore, the archives will increasingly become digital, which will provide opportunities to realise economies of scale in their processing and dissemination by the EUI.