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

statement of principle as that the state lacks safety railings, thus aricle 131-1 of the law of 6 February, 1992 says in effect: „Territorial units and their groupings are able to enter into agreements with foreign territorial units and their groupings within the limits of their terms of reference having regard to the international commitments of France“. These provisions leave open a wide field for freedom of action. Can they be made use of to enter into agreements for the organisation of archives, will it be necessary to increase awareness amongst politicians, administrators and businessmen of all sorts of the need for a policy for archives, and to that end to carry out a public relations exercise identifying the several well-organised activities, which will allow euroregions to make them known and to make use of advertising media in organising archive services, in the case European and business archives.

The Association of European Regions6 could be one of the most influential bodies in this search for legitimacy, by undertaking the role of drive belt between European Community authorities and those grass-root bodies, which daily live with and use the frontiers. Similarly the EC pilot project, LACE, a communications unit, which could, if it was made aware of archives, play a part in making known the need for an organisation. LACE was set up by the Association of European Frontier Regions (AEFR), which itself was established in 1971 by the frontier regions bordering on the Rhine. LACE was established to act as an observation point for trans-border cooperation and was set up in 1990 by the Commission in collaboration with AEFR, which wishes to offer its help in developing and implementing trans-border programmes and projects and in establishing contacts.

AEFR has been working for twenty years to overcome the economic, social and cultural disadvantages stemming from national frontiers. Particular weight is given to partnership; close cooperation with national authorities is essential. LACE offers help and an advisory service. Responsibility for its operation falls on the member states and regions themselves. Through the intermediacy of AEFR, the services which LACE is suggested to make available include the setting up of a data base and the circulation of information so that communication may be established. Experts from LACE are helping to organise regional structures for trans-border cooperation, to develop workshops and seminars in the various frontier regions. The data base ought to be able to give information about the successes and the obstacles encountered in trans-border projects and stmctures. It is the aim of LACE to create a network of all the frontier regions and to involve itself in all possible sources of information:

6 The Assembly of European Regions (AEFR), created in 1985 under the impetus of Edgar Faure has as its principal aim the strengthening of the representation of regions in their relations with European authorities. The Assembly sought, especially, to transform the Consultative Council of Regional and Local Communities, established in 1988 by the EC as a committee of regions, a sort of „Senate“, based alongside the European Parliament and composed of representatives of regional communities. This creation was decided by the Treaty of Maastricht: it will be composed of 179 members appointed for a four year term by the Council of Ministers on the proposition of member states. It is still only consultative but can of its own free will take on any matters it wishes to investigate.

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