Sonderband 2. International Council on Archives. Dritte Europäische Archivkonferenz, Wien 11. bis 15. Mai 1993. Tagungsprotokolle (1996)
2. Session /Séance. Regional (trans-border) Cooperation / Coopération régionale (transfrontaliere) - Brejon de Lavergnée, Marie-Edith: New economic Zones and their Archives / Nouvelles zones économiques et leurs archives (english 77 - français 100)
2. Session/Séance: Brejon de Lavergnée, New economic Zones and their Archives fact that Luxembourg takes part whilst a sovereign state, raises an institutional problem vis à vis Lorraine and the Belgian sectors. Similarly between the 119 regions in the official list there are considerable disparities in terms of democracy, financial power, economy but above all in terms of legal authority. Indeed the status of regions varies greatly across Europe. Greece, Denmark, Italy, The Irish Republic, have no regional structures. On the other hand, Germany, Belgium, both with federal frameworks, Italy and Spain, both with regionalist frameworks have regions, whose powers, exceed by far those of French regions. In some countries these powers can extend as far as the right to make laws, this is so in Germany and Spain and inded in Italy as well. Agreements always emphasise this lack of concurrence in status by insisting on the need to make provision for the system of national spheres of competence. As an example, the agreement setting up the Council of Léman, signed on 19 February, 1987 specifies that „with regard to the competences of territorial bodies they are as defined by French and Swiss domestic law“. The lack of one common law is bitterly resented by the chairmen of euroregions who intend to raise the problem this year (1993) with the authorities in Brussels. Strategies European economic regions and zones devise very skilful subterfuges for managing cooperative ventures. For want of laws, regulations or common status, they must organize things themselves. The strategies devised or the solutions to be envisioned can cover four main lines: political strategy, technical strategy, communication, partnership. By looking closely at them, we shall see whether it might be possible to use some ideas in organising archives. Political strategy allows associations of regions to join together within the framework of European procedures, especially in so far as the financing of schemes is concerned. So, in the case of Interreg programmes, which were created in an attempt to settle the problem of frontiers amicably, the lack of any law is critical when it comes to single requests for the transfer of money. It is not indeed possible to have a joint account. France, especially, in accordance with the rules governing public finance, requires that transfer of funds be carried out by prefectures. The Pyraneen Working Commmunity has circumvented this obstacle by using a private account. A barter economy is currently in operation: each region itself pays for schemes which it is carrying out: this is not a long-term solution. But, at present, the alternative is simple: either nothing is done because there is no law, or business is carried on in a low key without benefit of a law, which is the present solution. Euroregions give programmes a push in the right direction by funding, which enables Brussels to reduce programmes but these are either joint projects but not ones in common or associations, which group together (many such associations are based in Strasbourg 94
