Posted on 16 May 2014
On the occasion of the State of the Union Conference 2014, José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, paid a private visit to the Historical Archives of the European Union.
The visit of President Barroso in the afternoon of 8 May was scheduled after the conclusion of a workshop at the Historical Archives on “Collecting the Memories of an Institution: The Oral History Programme of the European Commission”. The workshop reflected on the deposit of interviews with numerous former Commissioners and European officials at the Historical Archives in Florence. Around 200 interviews were conducted by a consortium of 22 professors and researchers from 15 universities across Europe for the second volume of the history of the European Commission: “The European Commission 1973-1986, History and Memories of an Institution" which will be presented to the public with an event in Brussels on 14 May.
At the Historical Archives, President Barroso was received by Pasquale Ferrara, Secretary General of the European University Institute and Dieter Schlenker, Director of the Historical Archives. President Barroso greeted the Archives staff, thanking them “for your tireless efforts and your unwavering commitment to keep alive the history of European integration”. He then addressed a few words to the speakers and participants of the workshop and proceeded with a private visit to the holdings of the Archives.
In the atmospherically controlled storage area of the EU Institutional archives, President Barroso was shown original archival documents relating to the external relations of the European Commission with Portugal, first under the Salazar dictatorship and the post-Salazar regime, then on the commercial relations after the revolution of 1974 and lastly on the adhesion of Portugal to the European Communities starting with the accession request of 1977 by Prime Minister Mário Soares until the final entry of Portugal into the European Communities in 1985.
After the visit, President Barroso spoke to the academic community of the European University Institute at the Badia Fiesolana.
Consult the historical archives of the European Commission
Slideshow "Visit of President Barroso to the HAEU"