Council of the European Union

Council Resolution of 6 May 2003 on archives in the Member States

(2003/C 113/02)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

1. RECALLING the Council Resolution of 14 November 1991 on arrangements concerning archives(1) as well as the Council Conclusions of 17 June 1994 concerning greater cooperation in the field of archives(2),

2. RECALLING the Report of the group of experts on the coordination of Archives in the European Union published in 1994,

3. TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the on-going activities related to public access to documents and archives of the European Union,

4. STRESSES the importance of archives for the understanding of the history and culture of Europe,

5. STRESSES that well kept and accessible archives contribute to the democratic functioning of our societies, particularly during a period of major change in Europe,

6. CONSIDERS that special attention should be paid to the challenges for archive management in the context of the enlargement of the Union,

7. CONSIDERS that further development is needed in ICT applications and solutions in the field of archives,

8. INVITES THE COMMISSION to convene a group of experts representative also of acceding countries, appointed on the proposal of the relevant national Authorities, to address the following:

a) the situation of the public archives in the Member States of the European Union including various aspects of the probable evolution of archives over the forthcoming years, taking into particular account the enlargement of the European Union;

b) the consequences of the developments which have occurred in recent years in the field of archives, including particularly the development of new technologies;

c) promotion of concrete activities, such as

- the encouragement of appropriate measures to prevent damage to archives through catastrophes like flooding and to restore such documents and archives, and

- the strengthening of Europe-wide collaboration on the authenticity, long-term preservation and availability of electronic documents and archives;

d) enhancing coordination, information sharing and exchanging of good practice between the archives services;

e) possibilities of further integration of the work of this expert group with other relevant activities in this field at the European level, in particular the Action Plan eEurope.

9. INVITES THE COMMISSION to submit a report on this work, including orientations for increased future cooperation on archives at the European level, to the Council before the middle of 2004.

(1) OJ C 314, 5.12.1991, p. 2.

(2) OJ C 235, 23.8.1994.