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)
12 May/12 mai 1993 Second Working Session/Deuxième Séance de travail Marie Edith Brejon de Lavergnée New economic Zones and their Archives In December 1985, the heads of State or Government of the Community adopted the Single European Act, which was to come into force on 1 July, 1987. The Twelve undertook to create on 31 December, 1992 „a space without internal frontiers ... to transform relations as a whole amongst their states into a European union“, as the preamble to the Single Act shows. The European Community is not only a single market, it is a space, organised as a result of actions intended to develop co-operation by Europeans amongst themselves. Frontiers no longer separate states but become features of the union: and are going to take over tomorrow’s cooperation. New common policies aimed at developing cooperation not only in the field of commerce but in those of research, technology, regional development and to achieve the same goals in the social and environmental fields. In this way within the framework of this cooperation, new geographical spaces are becoming apparent in which all those aspects of political, social, economic and cultural life together can be taken account of, or just one of them, such as especially the economic aspect. Such cooperation cannot be carried out in the same way everywhere since the facts of life vary. In fact, the size, political status, economic importance of regions vary widely; what is more, the understandings which are in contemplation cannot be allowed to be confined within the framework of one administrative body or of one geographical region. For example, there can be cooperation between several regions in the same country or in different countries, associations of towns, creation of an economic development centure. Let us look at these many facts of tomorrow’s Europe but let us remember, with a sense of the philosophy of history, that they are always open to alteration and radical and economic fluctuations. Nevertheless to safeguard remembrance of that new Europe in evolution, throughout all these possible changes, it is necessary in the absence of specific structures, to establish archive services for them. The new European partners, through the responsibilities entrusted to them within the new Europe are producing archives in the exercise of their functions, which, whilst evidence of those 77
