Document management and archival policy

Document management policy

The Commission's document management policy – known by the acronym e-Domec (electronic archiving and document management in the European Commission) – aims to ensure the consistency of document management in all Commission departments. Standard and uniform rules enable the Commission to provide information on the matters for which it is accountable, at any time. These rules are implemented through the IT system Ares/NomCom.

Preservation of files

Files need to be kept for the proper functioning of the Commission as a public service from an administrative and legal point of view.

Preservation of files also ensures transparency and right of access and allows the opening to the public of the historical archives after 30 years.

But not all files need to be kept for ever. Some are kept permanently and some for a certain period of time.

Legal basis

• Commission Decision on records management and archives
• Commission Implementing Rules on records management and archives
• Third revision of the Common Commission-level retention list for European Commission files
• Privacy statement concerning the management and (short- and medium-term) preservation of Commission documents
• Privacy statement concerning the management and long-term preservation of the European Commission's archives

The Commission's archival policy

The archival policy of the Commission includes both internal procedures and strategies with regard to archives as well as cooperation and coordination with other institutions and parties.

What the Commission does internally

The Commission puts in place the legal framework, strategies and procedures to manage its archives and open them to the public after 30 years.

The Commission's Common Retention List (CRL) sets the conditions and retention periods for each type of Commission file. Once files are considered as closed, the list will determine whether they should be preserved or destroyed. Over time (maximum 15 years) the Commission has to make a selection of the archives that it wishes to retain as historical archives.

What the Commission does externally

The Commission promotes cooperation on archives with EU countries and with other EU institutions and international archival bodies by:

• co-chairing and providing the secretariat of the European Archives Group which is composed of high-level experts from all EU countries
• maintaining close relations with the DLM Forum
• working together with the other EU institutions in the Interinstitutional Working Group on Archives.