The agenda was adopted.

The minutes were approved.

The first issue that was discussed was professional training. Mrs Daria Nalecz, Head of the Polish State Archives, told about the training survey that was realised by her service. The results of the survey have been sent to the ICA Committee on Training and delivered also to all the Presidents of the Regional Branches of ICA at the St Petersburg meeting.

Mrs Christine Martinez, President of the Committee on Professional Training (CPT), then took the floor and reported about the activities of the Committee. CPT had a meeting in Helsinki last May which was attended also by a representative of EURBICA’s Executive Board (Jari Lybeck). The results of three surveys realised respectively by CPT, EURBICA and CARBICA were presented in the meeting. Records management was one of the main areas of interest in all the surveys. CPT and EURBICA are planning to co-operate in this area, especially with regard to developing the methodologies of teaching records management.

In order to enhance the co-operation between CPT and the branches, Mrs Martinez proposed that all branches should have a correspondent who follows the developments in the field of training and shares information with CPT.

The President (Martine de Boisdeffre) thanked all those who had answered the training questionnaire. She emphasised how important it was to co-operate with the Committee on Professional Training. She underlined that the surveys were completed now and it was time for concrete measures. She made three proposals: 1) EURBICA should nominate a training correspondent to co-operate with CPT, 2) EURBICA should organise a seminar on the methodology of teaching records management, and 3) EURBICA should organise a seminar on preventing and repairing damages caused by natural disasters. Both seminars should be scheduled for the year 2004.

All three proposals were approved. It was left to the Executive Board to take appropriate action.

After this Mr Christoph Graf, Director of the Swiss Federal Archives, informed the General Assembly about a web training programme called PIAF. This francophone programme is a joint venture of France, Switzerland and Canada. PIAF has a modular structure and it contains (or will contain), among other information, also training materials. PIAF is still under construction. Mr Graf proposed that EURBICA inform its members about PIAF.

The President said that the PIAF programme would certainly become a very important factor in the field of archival training. However, PIAF is not yet in operative use and it might be better to wait until it is completed before EURBICA starts actively informing about it.

Mrs Martinez pointed out that PIAF is a good example of on-line training which is one of the areas to which CPT pays special attention.

Mrs Nalecz discussed the question how to organise training in different contexts. She said that we have two kinds of training, namely training organised by member states on the one hand and training organised by EURBICA as a group on the other hand. As regards the member states training, perhaps the website of CPT could be an instrument to disseminate information. EURBICA training is a new thing, and at least two seminars are going to be organised along these lines in 2004. Those countries that are interested to organise a seminar should inform EURBICA’s Secretary General (Jari Lybeck) on their interest. As regards the website, Mrs Nalecz said that EURBICA could publish instructions etc. concerning natural disasters on its website.

Mr Martin van Boven, National Archivist of the Netherlands, pointed out that it was a good thing to involve CPT in EURBICA’s plans. This would guarantee that we can acquaint ourselves with best practices from all over the world. CPT is a bridge between Europe and the rest of the world.

Mrs Natalia Glazar from the Slovenian archives administration reminded that there are two ICA Committees on Preservation which are natural partners for EURBICA to co-operate. She also promised to consult some possible lecturers with regard to the EURBICA seminar on natural disasters.

The President asked other members to think about lecturers, too, and make proposals.

After the training issue the General Assembly discussed appraisal. The Polish State Archives have conducted a Europe wide survey on appraisal the results of which will be published soon as a book. All members will have a copy of the book. Mrs Nalecz said that the results will be left to the Committee on Appraisal to exploit. She pointed out that the survey did not address all relevant matters. There remains a question now whether EURBICA should continue to study appraisal. Among the interesting questions are, according to Mrs Nalecz, e.g. the big national registers and their appraisal.

Mr Raimo Pohjola, Deputy Director General of the Finnish National Archives Service, underlined the importance of appraisal on ICA’s agenda. Mr Pohjola said that there were two major areas which should be dealt with, namely how to appraise records in great volumes and how to appraise records in electronic environment. According to Mr Pohjola, it should be mainly on the responsibility of the Committee on Appraisal to carry on this issue.

Mr Lajos Körmendy from the National Archives of Hungary said that questionnaires on appraisal are good but they are not enough. He proposed that EURBICA invite an expert to write a study on appraisal in Europe.

Mr Graf pointed out that appraisal is one of the most important issues in the field of archives. He was of the opinion that before EURBICA proceeds in this matter we should know about the manual which is being produced by the Committee on Appraisal. As regards electronic records, Mr Graf said that their appraisal is a very important issue but we should not forget the traditional materials either, especially records that accumulate in great masses (in German, Fallakten).

Mrs Rosine Cleyet-Michaud, President of the Committee on Appraisa, commented this by saying that the Committee is not, strictly speaking, workinh on a manual but on guidelines. To produce a real manual would be a very difficult and time consuming task. The first draft of the guidelines (theoretical part) will be presented in the Vienna Congress in 2004. Besides the theoretical part the guidelines will comprise also case studies. At the moment the case study part is not yet begun. Mrs Cleyet-Michaud said that EURBICA’s survey on appraisal is very interesting and it would be useful if the other branches did the same thing. According to Mrs Cleyet-Michaud, sampling is one of the most interesting and also one of the most difficult areas of appraisal. There are a lot of national differences in this area, some of them due to different legal environments.

The President summarised the discussion on appraisal as follows. First, it is necessary to work in co-operation with the Committee on Appraisal. EURBICA could perhaps make a contribution to the appraisal issue in the area of sampling. The President proposed that the forthcoming Report on Appraisal be officially sent to the European Presidency (Italy) as well as to the Commission (Secretary General David O’Sullivan). The President underlined the importance of showing that EURBICA is able to collect information and to make other contributions. Besides the two authorities mentioned above the report could be sent to some ICA Sections and Committees too. The General Assembly approved the President’s proposal.

The legal database was the next issue that was dealt with. The legal database i.e. a database that would contain European archival legislations (and other relevant legislations) and their comparative analysis has been a major priority since EURBICA’s establishment in 2000. The Committee on Legal Matters has been informed about the project and it has been willing to make a contribution. The realisation of the database has been more difficult than was expected. The President and the Secretary General explained about a new approach that has been developed by the Executive Board to tackle this difficult issue. The project should be divided into two parts. The first part would be a simple one consisting of creating links from EURBICA’s website to the archives laws that are available on the Internet. Besides that those laws that are not on the Internet could be scanned to EURBICA’s website. The second part of the project would be more ambitious. Its goal would be the creation of a real database. A working group should be established to plan it: what were the precise goals of the database, how to organise its creation, how to finance it etc.

Hans Eyvind Naess from the Norwegian archives administration commented this by saying that the project was very important. He also pointed out that it would be relevant from the point of view of the other branches too.

With regard to the other branches, the President said that EURBICA’s project, if it turns out to be successful, might serve as an example to others to follow.

Mr Jussi Nuorteva, Director General of the Finnish National Archives Service, expressed his support to the database project. He pointed out that the European Commission might be one the sources for funding it.

Mr Graf gave his support to the creation of a working group. He mentioned his colleague Mr Andreas Kellerhals (not present) who might be interested to join this group. Mr Graf also asked about the role of the Committee on Legal Matters.

The President told that right from the beginning EURBICA has co-operated with the Legal Committee. There is a concrete link between the two bodies. Mr Viktoras Domarkas (Lithuania), who is a member of EURBICA’s Executive Board, is also a member of the Legal Committee. The problem is, however, that the Committee is very busy. It has not been able to give a contribution to the database project e.g. in terms of labour.

As regards the working group, the President proposed that it would be composed of five members: Mr Andreas Kellerhals (if he agrees), Mr Jari Lybeck, a representative of the Committee on Legal Matters, a representative of the French archives administration and a representative of some other member country. This proposal was approved.

Mr Lajos Körmandy took the floor and said that to his mind the project was too modest. A collection of links is not a database which means that searches are not possible. There is also the problem of languages as well as that of maintenance.

The General Secretary pointed out that the ‘collection of links solution’ is only the first step in the project. The final goal is a real database which contains all the European archival and other relevant legislations with translations (English and French at least) and possibly also comparitive analysis of the said legislations.

The President underlined the role of the working group in preparing the database concept.

Mrs Glazar commented the issue of translations. She was of the opinion that they should be done in the respective countries.

After that the Assembly discussed the events and activities in (2002-)2003. The Secretary General gave a report on this subject. As regards formal events, there were both Board meetings and General Assemblies in 2002 and 2003. In 2002 the Board meeting and the General Assembly were both held in Marseille in November in connection with the CITRA meeting. In 2003 there were two Board meetings, the first took place in Paris in April and the second in Cape Town in October. The Cape Town General Assembly is in progress, again in connection with CITRA. This General Assembly is the fourth one, the first being the General Assembly in Florence in May 2001, the second was in Reykjavik in October 2001 and the third in Marseille last year.

EURBICA’s priority areas i.e. training, appraisal and the legal database are mentioned in EURBICA’s strategic plan which was adopted in Reykjavik. All these areas have been discussed in the General Assemblies and gradually a detailed policy and concrete actions have taken shape. The Marseille General Assembly in November 2002 was important for the fact that EURBICA’s constitution prepared by the Board was approved there. In Marseille three countries joined EURBICA as observers, namely Canada, Israel and the United States. The minutes of the General Assemblies as well as the constitution have been sent to all members and observers. They are available also on EURBICA’s website (accessible via ICA’s website: www.ica.org).

Besides Board meetings and General Assemblies EURBICA has two permanent ‘institutions’: the President’s link to EBNA (European Bureau of National Archivists) and Mr Patrick Cadell who represents EURBICA in the European Union and the Council of Europe. In the EU front Mr Cadell is one of the central figures in producing the so called new Black Book, that is, the new Report on Archives in the EU which is to be published in the summer of 2004.

Within the ICA EURBICA is in close co-operation with three committees: the Committee on Legal Matters, the Committee on Appraisal and the Committee on Professional Training. In May 2003 the Committee on Professional Training and EURBICA had a joint meeting in Helsinki where the results of ICA’s three training surveys were presented and discussed.

With regard to members’ activities, the Secretary General first specified the concept of ‘member’s activity’. There are an enormous number of archival events and activities going on in Europe. Which of them are EURBICA activities? It depends on the members. If they want to put these activities in the context of EURBICA and if they want to disseminate information about them through EURBICA channels then they are EURBICA activities, concluded the Secretary General.

The Polish State Archives have put certain activities emphatically in the context of EURBICA. One of them is a programme called Common Archival Heritage of Central and Eastern Europe which at the moment should be treated only as the first stage to Common European Archival Heritage Portal. There are certain activities undertaken by France, the United Kingdom, Hungary and Poland to achieve this goal.

There have also been two meetings in Poland which are relevant in this connection. In May there was the 9th International Conference of Archives of the Countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The conference was combined with the meetings of certain ICA Committees, namely Committee on Current Records in Electronic Environments, Committee on Appraisal and Committee on Legal Matters. The conference was devoted to the role of archives in the process of the European integration and to the activities of archives in the time of the general computerisation of the society and under the conditions of social and political transformations. Last August there was a meeting of the Memory of the World programme which dealt, among other things, with the interests of the Baltic region in the programme.

Besides Poland also Croatia, which represents South East Europe in EURBICA’s Board, as well as some other countries of the region have put certain activities in the context of EURBICA. Mrs Melina Lucic from the Croatian archives administration gave information about the activities of the South East Europe. The Association of Croatian Archivists arranges annually a colloquium to which colleagues from abroad are invited. The meeting of 2002 was dedicated to records management including the new ISO standard on records management. This year the meeting addressed issues concerning records creators.

Also in 2002 there was a two-day European colloquium. The theme was modernisation of the Croatian administration; the Croatian National Archives were one of the organisers of the meeting. Another conference that was held in 2002 (Slovenia) was a conference called Technical and Field Related Problems of Traditional and Electronic Archiving. In March 2003 a conference on the treatment of electronic images and modern archives took place in Trieste. The conference was prepared by the Italian, Croatian and Slovenian archives administrations. In June there was a conference called Exhibiting Archival and Library Materials and Works of Art on Paper: Standards and Preservation which was held in Ljubljana.

The Croatian State Archives are giving professional assistance concerning the archives on the territory of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Croatia also gives annual support of 40 000 euros for the restoration and microfilming of Bosnian and Herzegovinian archives, primarily for the restoration of church archives. Croatia is also microfilming registers of births, marriages and deaths in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Croatian State Archives, in co-operation with the State Archives of Albania, organised an exhibition on Milan Shufflay, a Croatian export on Albania, in November 2002, in Tirana.

A guide on the archival sources of the Illyrian provinces, a major project of Croatia, France, Italy, Austria, Monte Negro and Slovenia has now been completed.

Croatia and Bulgaria are co-operating in publishing archival sources (World War II diplomatic reports).

All South East European countries are participating in a project called Ottoman archives - inheritance for humanity. The project is launched by the European Council. According to the countries of the aforesaid region, the project should include among other things: preparation of guides on the Ottoman archives, in either English or French; beginning of the digitisation of the Ottoman archives following the example set by the Comintern project; enhancement of the old-Turkish language and paleography (seminars etc.); preparation of finding aids concerning fonds/collections of Ottoman documents in local archives, as an addendum to the Ottoman archives.

Most of the countries from South East Europe have signed agreements on cultural co-operation and on the exchange of experts and literature. The co-ordination of archival educational programmes is one of the aims of the co-operation.

As regards present activities in the region, there are plans to organise an international conference in Dubrovnik in Croatia with the topic Archives and the Human Rights: Role of the International and non-Governmental Organizations and State Archives in the Former-Yugoslavia. All Former-Yugoslav State Archives have given their consent to the conference.

In Italy too some activities are taking place in the context of EURBICA. Mrs Gigliola Fioravanti, Director of Centro di Fotoriproduzione Legatoria e Restauro degli Archivi di Stato (Mrs Fioravanti is also a member of EURBICA’s Executive Board) is going to organise a an experimental course with the aid of the Physics Department of La Sapienza University of Rome. The course will contain one hundred hours of teaching concerning the management, conservation and promotion of photographs as items of cultural heritage. A considerable part of the course will be devoted to digitisation. The course is scheduled to be launched at the beginning of 2004.

To complete the list of EURBICA related activities, the Secretary General mentioned the conference on archival buildings arranged by the Directorate of the French archives. It took place in Annecy last May.

As regards the present and future activities, Mrs Nalecz referred to a project called Restitution of the Memory of Poland. A database concerning this project will be accessible on-line on the Internet next year. Mrs Nalecz promised to disseminate information about the project.

Mr Graf asked the Assembly to pay attention to two projects. EURBICA’s predecessor, the European Board, did a lot to gap the bridge which existed between the Western and former communist countries. This work resulted in a project the aim of which was to computerize the Comintern archives. This was a joint project including the participation of France, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United States. The project is to be completed in the near future. Access to this material will be taken care of by 500 CD-ROMs which will be distributed to the partners of the project. Mr Graf was of the opinion that the material should be on-line.

The second project Mr Graf referred to is the bilateral co-operation between Switzerland and Albania concerning the modernization of Albanian archives. The project, which has yielded good results, has been going on for almost 10 years and it will continue for four additional years.

The President asked the attendants to send information about their activities to the Secretary General.

The President informed the General Assembly about the European Archives Conference which is to be arranged in Poznan (Poland) in 2006. The year was determined to be 2006 instead of 2005 because ICA’s Secretary General Mr Van Albada had pointed out that it would be sensible to have the European Conference between the two ICA Congresses and not right after one (Vienna 2004). The European Archives Conference will be organised as a joint project of the Polish State Archives, ICA Section of Professional Associations (SPA) and EURBICA.

With regard to the themes of the Conference, the members were urged to make proposals. They can be sent to EURBICA’s Secretary General or directly to Director of the Polish State Archives Mrs Daria Nalecz. Mr Graf pointed out that EURBICA’s strategic plan would be a logical starting point with regard to themes. Appraisal, for example, might be a good theme.

Mr Patrick Cadell, EURBICA’s representative in the European Union and the Council of Europe gave a report on the recent activities of archival interest in these institutions. As regards the Council of Europe, there are now two recommendations which are relevant here: Recommendation on access to archives (2000) and Recommendation on access to official documents (2002). Mr Cadell underlined that these recommendations have been treated as two aspects of the same action. They have aroused considerable interest. The recommendation on access to official documents has given rise to a number of subsequent activities. One of them is the production of a handbook or manual on access to official documents. The handbook will be a simple and concrete one, consisting of a series of questions. The handbook should be available before the end of this year.

Mr Cadell told that there is also a third recommendation but it is not approved yet, namely the Recommendation on the archiving of electronic documents in the legal sector. There seems to be a halt in the preparation of this document.

In the EU sector a major issue is the new report on archives in the European Union (replacing the old ‘Black book’). The report will comprise the new member states which are joining the Union in the spring of 2004, so altogether 25 countries. The project is authorised by a Council resolution and it is headed by the Commission. The text of the report will be produced by national experts from various EU countries. There is a very tight time schedule, the report should be completed by the end of June 2004.

The President said a few words about EURBICA - EBNA (European Bureau of National Archivists) relationship and referred to a paper which was sent to the members beforehand. It is an important principle that President of EURBICA always attends the meetings of EBNA.

Mr Graf emphasised, on his part, that the said principle is very good. According to him, there is a risk that EBNA becomes too strong. EURBICA represents also the interest of the non-EU countries.

The President said that EURBICA’s coverage is definitely larger than the European Union. Besides that there are other differences between EBNA and EURBICA. EURBICA is active in professional areas whereas EBNA operates at the political level.

The first issue under this agenda item was the context where EURBICA’s General Assembly takes place. According to the President, there has been some criticism (on the part of ICA) about the present arrangement, that is, about the connection to CITRA. The President regarded herself, however, that the CITRA connection has been a good solution because CITRA gathers the National Archivists together (although the membership is not limited to this group) which means that there is no need to travel so much to separate conferences. Mr Körmendy and Mr Graf as well as Mr Pohjola expressed their support to the President’s view which was approved.

Mr Leopold Kammerhofer, EURBICA’s Treasurer (and also ICA’s Treasurer) told about finances. The financial support that ICA gives to the regional branches amounts to 50 000 euros in 2003. EURBICA’s portion is 5000-6000 euros. In 2003 EURBICA’s expenses will amount to more than 7000 euros. The sum is larger than the annual allowance due to Mr Cadell’s expenses as EURBICA’s representative in the EU and the European Council. These expenses will be covered by an additional, proportional payment paid by each member country.

Mr Kammerhofer pointed out that the budget should rather be dedicated to financing products than travel costs.

The President said that at the moment there are no EURBICA projects going on that would require money from the budget. When EURBICA organises seminars etc., the travel expenses of the trainers (but not the other attendants) may be covered either by EURBICA or by the country that hosts the seminar.

The President pointed out that it was not possible to discuss future plans in detail here. The essential thing now is to get proposals from the members (after the General Assembly). The Executive Board will process the proposals and give a synthesis of them in Vienna.

Mr Raimo Pohjola gave support to this approach. The building up of an action plan was not possible now in the Assembly. Mr Pohjola also underlined the importance of ‘looking around’ and being aware of what is happening around us. Co-operation is of vital importance.

Mrs Glazar shared this view. She urged archives to co-operate with libraries and museums. This co-operation is necessary, not so much in professional issues, but in the field of cultural projects.

The President said that especially projects which combine different parts of Europe should be encouraged.

Director General of the Finnish National Archives Service Mr Jussi Nuorteva raised the issue of preserving the digital archival heritage. According to Mr Nuorteva, UNESCO would be a very important arena where we could make a contribution to this issue. It would be important to get it into EURBICA’s action plan.

The President told that she had received a letter from the National Archives of Israel which raised the question of Israel’s full membership in EURBICA. In the General Assembly that was held in Marseille in November 2002 Israel got the status of an observer together with Canada and the United States. Now Israel applied for a full membership.

The President’s view was that the matter was settled in Marseille for the time being. Israel enjoys the status of an observer until the Vienna conference where the issue of full membership will be taken on EURBICA’s agenda. The General Assembly accepted this view.

Then the President discussed the question of the composition of the Executive Board. Mr Josip Kolanovic has retired from his post as Director of the State Archives of Croatia and, consequently, his post in the Board is vacant. The President proposed that his post would not be filled because the Vienna Congress is so close. A new Board will be elected in Vienna for the next four years. This proposal was accepted. The President asked the members to propose names for the new Board. The present Board will assess the proposals and make its own recommendations for the Vienna Congress.

Mr Jussi Nuorteva commented this by saying that it would be important for the members to have information about the proposals in advance before Vienna.

The President promised that the Board will make the names available before Vienna.

Since there were not other matters, the President closed the Assembly.