On 24 April 2024, Vasco Alves Cordeiro, President of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) made the first transfer of documental materials of that institution for long-term preservation in the vaults of the Historical Archives of the European Union (HAEU) at the European University Institute (EUI).
On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the CoR, Vasco Alves Cordeiro visited the HAEU for a hand-over ceremony with the Secretary General of the EUI Marco Del Panta and Director of the HAEU Dieter Schlenker.
In his statement, CoR President Cordeiro said “The European Committee of the Regions was created to bring Europe closer to its local communities and reinforce democracy. As this political assembly turns 30 years old, we are proud to bring the legacy of this work to the Historical Archives of the European Union. This corresponds not only to a legal obligation, but above all to a democratic duty to promote transparency and memory preservation. Building Europe from the ground has been the mission of the Committee since its creation and it remains our ambition for the decades to come.”
Marco Del Panta added that “The European Committee of the Regions plays a vital role in bringing the EU closer to the citizens, being composed of local authorities that represent the governance level with which 500 million Europeans interact daily. Having held office as an elected city councillor, I can confirm from experience how crucial this positioning is and I am therefore very pleased to see the Committee’s archives being deposited at the official Historical Archives of the European Union here at the EUI.”
Regarding the transfer, HAEU Director Schlenker noted that “The archives of the Committee of Regions will be the main source for research on how European cohesion and regional policies were implemented in the 1990s. These policies remain hugely important and relevant today. As the entity that represents regional and local governments, CoR fosters greater representation across all of Europe’s citizenry.”
For the ceremony, President Cordeiro chose to symbolically hand over the first Opinion issued by the Committee of Regions in 1994, entitled "Proposal for a Council Regulation establishing a Cohesion Fund and the Proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) laying down detailed rules for implementing establishing a Cohesion Fund", by rapporteur João Bosco Soares Mota Amaral, former President of the regional government of Azores. This symbolic document ties a strong link between the role the CoR has played since its creation until today, as explained by President Cordeiro: “For the past 30 years, the Committee has defended the voice of regions and cities for a cohesion policy based on the principles of partnership and multi-level governance. And it still does today to make sure this policy supports all territories as a long-term investment tool. The fact that the first opinion of the European Committee of the Regions was drafted by a political representative from an outermost region, the former President of the Government of the Azores, João Bosco Mota Amaral, is a testament of a Europe that is made by everyone, for everyone.”
The Committee of the Regions and the Historical Archives of the European Union
CoR’s deposit is in keeping with Council regulation 2015/496, whereby all EU institutions and agencies are directed to deposit and make available for public consultation their archives at the Historical Archives of the European Union, according to the thirty-years rule.
The initial CoR deposit to Florence consisted of 87 archival boxes comprising 10 linear meters of shelf space. The transfer included the following series of documents: Opinions of the COR (1994-1995); Plenary sessions; Meetings of the COR Bureau; Commissions meetings; Sub commissions meetings; Working group meetings and organisation; and Press releases. The documents are open for consultation and have been digitalised in their entirety; the digital versions will be made available in the HAEU database for online consultation as soon as the Florence inventory is complete.
Photo: HAEU archivist Valérie Mathevon (at right) demonstrates archival material to Committee of Regions President Vasco Alves Cordeiro (centre) and CoR Secretary General Petr Blížkovský (left).