The Historical Archives of the European Union (HAEU), located in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

(

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

), is the official archives for the historical documents of the Institutions of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

. It is also a research centre dedicated to the archival preservation and study of European integration and is part of the

European University Institute The European University Institute (EUI) is an international postgraduate and post-doctoral teaching and research institute and an independent body of the European Union with juridical personality, established by the member states to contribu ...

(EUI).

Legal Basis and History

The Historical Archives of the European Union was established in 1983 following the regulation by the

Council of the European Communities The Council of the European Union, often referred to in the treaties and other official documents simply as the Council, and informally known as the Council of Ministers, is the third of the seven Institutions of the European Union (EU) as ...

and the decision by the

Commission of the European Communities The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

to open their historical archives to the public. A subsequent agreement in 1984 between the

and the EUI laid the groundwork for establishing the Archives in Florence, and the HAEU opened its doors to researchers and the public in 1986. In 2011 a Framework Partnership Agreement between the EUI and the European Commission reinforced the Historical Archives’ role in preserving and providing access to the archival holdings of the European Union's institutions and regulated the acquisition and treatment of private archives. In March 2015 the

Council of the European Union The Council of the European Union, often referred to in the treaties and other official documents simply as the Council, and informally known as the Council of Ministers, is the third of the seven Institutions of the European Union (EU) as ...

amended the decisions of 1983 with the Council Regulation (EU) 2015/496.

Mission

The HAEU preserves and makes accessible the archival holdings of

EU Institutions The institutions of the European Union are the seven principal decision-making bodies of the European Union and the Euratom. They are, as listed in Article 13 of the Treaty on European Union: * the European Parliament, * the European Council ...

and Agencies according to the 30 years rule governing access to archives of the

. It also collects and preserves private papers of individuals, movements and international organizations involved in the European integration process. It facilitates research on the history of the European Union and its predecessor institutions, promotes public interest in

European integration European integration is the process of industrial, economic integration, economic, political, legal, social integration, social, and cultural Regional integration, integration of states wholly or partially in Europe or nearby. European integrat ...

and enhances transparency in the functioning of European Union Institutions.

Holdings

The holdings are composed of fonds coming from the European Institutions, their predecessor institutions and European Union Agencies. Among its holdings are the archives of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the

European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...

(EEC), the

European Atomic Energy Community The European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom) is an international organisation established by the Euratom Treaty on 25 March 1957 with the original purpose of creating a specialist market for nuclear power in Europe, by developing nucl ...

(Euratom), the Common Assembly of the ECSC, the

European Parliamentary Assembly The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

, the

Court of Justice of the European Union The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) (french: Cour de justice de l'Union européenne or "''CJUE''"; Latin: Curia) is the Judiciary, judicial branch of the European Union (EU). Seated in the Kirchberg, Luxembourg, Kirchberg quart ...

, the

Economic and Social Committee The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is a consultative body of the European Union (EU) established in 1958. It is an advisory assembly composed of "social partners", namely: employers ( employers' organisations), employees (trade ...

, the

Court of Auditors The European Court of Auditors (ECA; French: ''Cour des comptes européenne'') is one of the seven institutions of the European Union (EU). It was established in 1975 in Luxembourg in order to improve EU financial management. It has 27 members ( ...

, and the

European Investment Bank The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the European Union's investment bank and is owned by the EU Member States. It is one of the largest supranational lenders in the world. The EIB finances and invests both through equity and debt solutions ...

. It also holds private deposits and collections from individuals, organisations and associations that advocated, supported and implemented the Post-World War II European conciliation and integration process. These holdings include the archival papers of the

European Space Agency , owners = , headquarters = Paris, Île-de-France, France , coordinates = , spaceport = Guiana Space Centre , seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png , seal_size = 130px , image = Views in the Main Control Room (1205 ...

(ESA), the Assembly of

Western European Union The Western European Union (WEU; french: Union de l'Europe occidentale, UEO; german: Westeuropäische Union, WEU) was the international organisation and military alliance that succeeded the Western Union (WU) after the 1954 amendment of the 1948 ...

(WEU), the

European Council for Municipalities and Regions European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe a ...

(CCRN), the

European League for Economic Cooperation The European League for Economic Cooperation or ELEC (french: Ligue Européenne de Coopération Économique, LECE) is an independent political advocacy group which advocates for closer European integration. Established in 1946, ELEC was one of the ...

(LECE) and a unique collection of federalist archives, for example the

European Movement The European Movement International is a lobbying association that coordinates the efforts of associations and national councils with the goal of promoting European integration, and disseminating information about it. History The origins of th ...

(ME), the

Union of European Federalists The Union of European Federalists (UEF) is a European non-governmental organisation, campaigning for a Federal Europe. It consists of 20 constituent organisations and it has been active at the European, national and local levels since 1946. H ...

(UEF) and the '

Centre international de formation européenne CIFE - the Centre international de formation européenne is a not-for-profit European institution of higher education and research established in 1954. CIFE encompasses educational and research activities promoting European integration and governa ...

(CIFE)'. In the framework of the activities of the ‘EU Inter-institutional Web Preservation Working Group’ and in collaboration with the

Internet Memory Foundation The Internet Memory Foundation (formerly the European Archive Foundation) was a non-profitable foundation whose purpose was archiving content of the World Wide Web. It supported projects and research that included the preservation and protection ...

the HAEU have launched in 2013 a archiving pilot project on EU institutions’ websites. These websites are captured quarterly since the end of 2013 and made available on the HAEU’s home page.

Premises

Since 2012, the HAEU has his seat at the historic 'Villa Salviati' in Florence. 'Villa Salviati' is located on the Florentine hills along Via Bolognese and was named after one of its illustrious owners, Jacopo Salviati, who took possession of the estate in 1445. The Salviati family were wealthy wool merchants and bankers and during the 15th century closely connected to the

Medici The House of Medici ( , ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici, in the Republic of Florence during the first half of the 15th century. The family originated in the Muge ...

family. A fortified house was present at the site since the 12th century, but the Salviati family elegantly decorated the villa and its gardens of 14 acres. The asymmetric facades show additions over the centuries, but retain some of the crenellated castle look that is typical for a palace outside the city walls. With the passing of the Salviati family, the estate to have changed hands many times in the last two hundred years and were owned by the Borghese princes, the English Vansittart, the tenor Mario Da Candia, and Gustavo Hagermann in the 19th century. It is said that in this palace, Veronica Cybo, the wife of the Duke Salviati, consumed with jealousy, stabbed to death the Duke's mistress, a Caterina Canacci. Veronica arranged to lure the woman to the palace with the help of Bartolommeo, Caterina's stepson. She then proceeded to decapitate the unfortunate woman and then presented the head to her husband the Duke as a New Year's gift. For the crime, Veronica was exiled from Florence, and Bartolommeo, beheaded. Among the many allusions to the story, is a novel by

Francesco Domenico Guerrazzi Francesco Domenico Guerrazzi (12 August 1804 – 25 September 1873) was an Italian writer and politician involved in the Italian Risorgimento. Biography Guerrazzi was born in the seaport of Livorno, then part of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. He ...

. Since 2000 Villa Salviati is property of the Italian State and after the extensive restructuration it has been destinated to host the HAEU with 11,000 linear meters of shelving created in an subterraneous deposit. On 17 of December 2009 the President of the Italian Republic Giorgio Napolitano has inaugurated the opening of the Historical Archives of the European Union at 'Villa Salviati' and in 2012 the Archives were operative.

Consultation Services and Research Assistance

The HAEU is present on the World Wide Web since 1995 and has developed an electronic online database since 1991. All inventories of fonds, collections and oral history programmes held by the HAEU are published and searchable on its website. The HAEU also publishes the information and the classification schemes of the institutional holdings on the ' Archives Portal EUROPE' and it is linked to the social media Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr. The digitisation programme of archival units and photographs of various fonds and deposits launched in 2006 lead to some 12.000 digitalized archival units being directly consultable on the web site in pdf-format. Likewise the 600 transcriptions of the European Oral History Program and many audio registrations can be accessed on the site. The reading room at 'Villa Salviati' is open to the public for consultation of its holdings. The facilities include a specialized reference library composed of 20.000 publications, printed documentation, grey literature and electronic publications. Access to all archival documents, collections and interviews preserved at the HAEU and available on line or in the reading room is free of charge. The HAEU hosts and organises in close cooperation with the EUI History Department and with external partners research seminars, workshops and conferences. It proposes to be a meeting place between actors and researchers in European Integration matters. To this end, the HAEU co-directs with the EUI History Department the ''Alcide De Gasperi Research Centre for the History of European Integration'', which was inaugurated on 6 May 2015 in the presence of

Alcide De Gasperi Alcide Amedeo Francesco De Gasperi (; 3 April 1881 – 19 August 1954) was an Italian politician who founded the Christian Democracy party and served as prime minister of Italy in eight successive coalition governments from 1945 to 1953. De Gasp ...

’s daughter Maria Romana De Gasperi. The Alcide De Gasperi Research Centre aims at promoting innovative research projects and facilitates the use of primary sources. It also coordinates networks of scholars and promotes publications on the history of European integration.

References

External links

Official Website

eui.euarchivesportaleurope.net
{{Authority control International organizations based in Europe History of the European Union Florence European University Institute buildings History of European integration