Posted on 27 January 2017
The National Archives of Luxemburg has just put online their inventory of the Secretariat general / Council of the Western European Union fonds. The inventory includes more than 3400 archival records dating from 1947 to 2009. The fonds is available for researchers on site in Luxemburg.
The National Archives of Luxemburg’s fonds inventory is linked to the fonds of the Assembly of the WEU deposited at the Historical Archives of the European Union in Florence, Italy. The HAEU’s inventory is also available online and the fonds can be consulted on site. It comprises of 2917 records in English and French.
On 17 March 1948 – after the Second World War and at the beginning of the Cold War – France, the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxemburg signed the Brussels Treaty. In 1954 the Federal Republic of Germany and Italy were admitted to the treaty, which gave birth to the Western European Union. The treaty aimed to establish cooperation between the member states in the fields of armaments, defence and security as well as in economic, social and cultural matters.
In May 2011 the WEU officially agreed to transfer its SG/Council archival records to the National Archives of Luxemburg and the Assembly of the WEU records to the Historical Archives of the European Union. Since its missions had been taken over by NATO and the European Union, the WEU was closed on 30 June 2011.
Access the National Archives of Luxemburg’s inventory of the SG/Council of WEU Fonds
Access the HAEU’s online inventory of the Assembly of WEU Fonds