Statement of Principles on the possession of documents from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the member-states of the European Union by individuals and private organisations
During the meeting of the Directors of the Archives of the EU member-states’ Ministries of Foreign Affairs and its institutions on the island of Syros on 15-16 May 2003 in the framework of the Greek Presidency of the EU the following Statement of Principles was adopted:
Statement of Principles on the possession of documents from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the member-states of the European Union by individuals and private organisations
The Directors of the Archives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the member-states of the European Union and of its Institutions
In view of Recommendation No. R (2000) 13 of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to member-states on a European policy on access to archives;
In view of Recommendation No Rec(2002)2 of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to member-states on access to official documents:
Taking into account the proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the re-use and commercial exploitation of public sector information (COM 2003/0119/FINAL) and the relative political agreement on a common position of the Council on 27 March 2003;
Considering that in view of the complexity of the issues connected with the opening of archives, the adoption of a European policy on access to archives is called for, based upon common principles consistent with democratic values;
Considering the importance of public archives for historical research and public information;
Willing to promote equal access to historical archives with respect to the integrity of the fonds;
Taking account of the importance of the records of the archives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the member-states of the EU, not only for their political history, but also for issues related with their national security and the exercise of their foreign policy today;
Recommend that all individuals and private organisations in the European Union that possess private archival collections in which documents from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the member-states are included, should:
1. respect the rules applied for the archives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the member-states in which they have their seat, especially those concerning the closure period and the preconditions for access to public documents (copies or originals) stored in these private archival collections, as well as their conservation and reproduction.
2. inform the competent authorities of the public documents included in these private collections. This information should include full inventory of these public documents with full description and information on the possibilities of access to these documents by researchers.
3. cooperate with the competent archives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs for the declassification of each and every public document in the possession of private archives.
4. cooperate closely with the competent archives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, particularly in cases of release or publication of documents of the archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
5. provide the archives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs with copies of the public documents that the private archives possess, if asked.
Syros, May 2003
February 17, 2011