Sonderband 2. International Council on Archives. Dritte Europäische Archivkonferenz, Wien 11. bis 15. Mai 1993. Tagungsprotokolle (1996)

1. Session / Séance. Experiences gained, current Situation, future Prospects / Expériences acquises, Situation actuelle, Perspectives futures - Körmendy, Lajos: International Cooperation in Europe. A Survey / Programmes de Coopération internationale des archives en Europe. Un bilan (english 13 - français 27)

1. Session/Séance: Körmendy, International archival Cooperation

being relegated to the second division and therefore decided to set up our forum. The professional level of the first two conferences held proved that this forum is viable.

The progress of European integration could also be seen in international institi- ons. The .Archives of Europe1 in Florence, the Lyon and Maastricht conferences referred to above, and the meeting of the national archivists of the EC Member States in Luxembourg in 1991 all constitute steps to meet the challenge of the new Europe, although it is clear that the regulations governing archive policy within the European Institutions are very far from being in perfect working order10 11. Optimism is high: at the Maastricht symposium there was talk of the idea of an European Archives Institute, while an EC document referred to the need for a coherent archive policy“. There is no means of knowing how many of these ideas will take concrete shape in the future, but as integration is going to continue, it is clear that this trend will continue.

The most spectacular change came at the end of the 1980s in Eastern Europe. Once they had got rid of the political tutelage of the dictatorships, archives in Eastern Europe abandoned their isolationism and turned to the Western countries. The Lyon meeting in 1990 and the Prague meeting of 1991 on the modernization of the archives of Central Europe, along with the programme which was drawn up there, prove that Western archivists are prepared to help their Eastern colleagues. Modernization will, however, be hampered by the fact that it is necessary to change a whole mentality.

Following the political change in Eastern Europe, relations between the countries of the region became looser, not only the .socialist1 links (see paragraph

2. 2. 1. above) but also the bilateral contacts which functioned relatively well (searches, microfilms, exchange of experiences). As almost all the parties involved have an interest in maintaining these bilateral relations, the first steps to reanimate them have already been made. A new kind of cooperation is also being established. The rapid and historic transformation of these countries’ societies and economies poses similar major archival problems (the fate of the archives of the Communist parties, documents belonging to privatized industries, etc.) in all of the countries concerned. Exchange of experience may therefore be really useful and for this reason representatives of Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland and Czecho-slovakia met in Budapest in 1991. Since they decided to continue holding consultations, this probably marks the birth of a new regional forum.

Regional links will presumably become more and more significant as a result of European integration, which will eliminate the frontiers that cut across historic regions. It is to be hoped that existing regional cooperation structures, e. g. Alps/Adriatic, Lake Constance, Northern countries, Saar-Lorraine-Luxembourg,

10 Jaitner, Klaus: Les Archives historiques des communautés européennes à Florence; in: Gazette des Archives, n° 144 (1989) p. 62-69.

11 Franz, Eckhart G.: Brauchen wir ein Europäisches Archiv-Institut? in: Janus 1992/2, p. 234-238; Paper of the Netherlands Presidency to the members of the EC Comittee on Cultural Affairs, September 3, 1991, SN 3133/91 (Culture), quoted by Eric Ketel aar in: Janus 1992/2, p. 248-250.

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