Historical Archives Service

Responsibilities

Since its establishment in 1983, the Historical Archives Service has aimed to share the European Commission’s historical heritage, in line with regulations, as part of the common cultural heritage.

There are 40 people working there. The reading room, located in Brussels, is easily accessible.

The Tasks of the Historical Archives Service are:

• to collect paper or digital documents drawn up or received by the Commission, organised into files and with legal or historical value;
• to update and describe them and place them in their historical context;
• to ensure their retention and authenticity, in particular by implementing a long-term digital retention infrastructure;
• to make them available through online tools, its reading room and the searches carried out by the archivists to respond to internal and external queries.

The legal basis for the archive services of the European institutions is Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 354/83, amended by Regulation 1700/2003 and Regulation 496/2015.

More than 60 years of European history

What we offer

Archival fonds | Collections | Availability Rules | FAQ | Useful Links

Search

Search can be performed by archival fonds, document series or speeches. But also by inventories or minutes meetings.

Visiting the Archives