Sonderband 2. International Council on Archives. Dritte Europäische Archivkonferenz, Wien 11. bis 15. Mai 1993. Tagungsprotokolle (1996)
3. Session / Séance. Sharing of Experience and Exchange of Staff / Partage d’Expériences et Echange des Personnes - Boven, Maarten van: Scope and Aims of Mobility. A Dutch View / Cadres et Objectifs de la Mobilité. Un Point de vue néerlandais (english 293 - français 302)
Maarten van Boven Scope and Aims of Mobility. A Dutch view Introduction The city of Maastricht in the Netherlands has recently become well known throughout Europe. The treaty signed by European heads of government last year gave rise to heated debate in national parliaments and among the public at large. Pessimists see the Maastricht treaty as the beginning of the end of a united Europe. The name of Maastricht is familiar to European archivists too. In October 1991 it was the venue for the conference on „Archives and Europe without Boundaries“, held to mark the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the Royal Society of Dutch Archivists. Hundreds of participants, including representatives of the Society’s eight hundred members and delegates from many countries in Europe and the rest of the world, helped to make that a truly international occasion. Several speakers at the conference, including Margaret Turner (Society of British Archivists) and Eric Ketelaar (National Records Office in the Netherlands), touched on the mobility of the European archivist. They stressed that the initial and in-service training of archivists presents a major challenge to cooperation between the EC Member States. I shall say nothing about training opportunities at European level, as that topic is to be discussed by other speakers. I propose to go a step further, and examine in some detail the scope for mobility open to Dutch archivists in a united Europe and suggest some practical ways of increasing that mobility. In this connection it is important to know what Dutch archivists may expect from Europe and, conversely, what archivists from the rest of Europe could learn from the Netherlands. A brief account of archives in the Netherlands The opportunities open to Dutch archivists for exchanges and mobility and their expectations in this area are largely determined by the way the Dutch public records system is organised. I would venture to say that it is the most highlyorganised in Europe. Let me begin with the Public Records Department. This comprises the National Record Office (Algemeen Rijksarchief) which is located in The Hague, the seat of government, and the provincial record offices. The National Record Office keeps the archives of government agencies and departments whose functions cover, or used to cover, the State as a whole, as well as the archives of former colonies and overseas territories in so far as these originate from agencies within the Netherlands. The Netherlands’ important role in the history of western expansion makes the archives 293
