Posted on 10 November 2015
The inventory to the archival fonds of the Council of the European Communities for the year 1972 (CM2/1972) has been finalised and is now available on the website of the Historical Archives of the European Union.
The Council of the European Communities is part of the EU legislature and represents the executives of EU Member States. The Council developed from the first Special Council of Ministers of the European Coal and Steel Community of 1951. Under the Treaties of Rome in 1957, the Councils of the European Economic Community and of the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom) were added. With the Merger Treaty of 1967 the three bodies were combined into a single Council of Ministers.
The 1,868 files of 1972 which are now available for research cover subjects including the internal administration of the Council, its relations with other EU institutions, in particular the European Parliament and the Economic and Social Committee, and with international organisations, including the United Nations and GATT.
A number of files concern the European Community’s involvement in the first United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, held in Stockholm from 5 to 16 June 1972, which brought about the signing of the Stockholm Declaration, and paved the way for the signing of the Kyoto Protocol.
The files also demonstrate some of the changes that took place in preparation for the accession of the United Kingdom, Denmark and Ireland in 1973.
Other subjects found in the fonds include agricultural questions, particularly regarding the regulations and the sanitary questions associated with the import of animals and meat into and within the European Community, the setting up of trade agreements with third countries, and social security.
These documents are mostly in French, German and Italian, with a significant number also in English and Danish.
Direct access to the Council of the European Communities fonds