Digitisation of historical archives in Europe

12.4.2016

Question for written answer E-002938-16
to the Commission
Rule 130
Mario Borghezio (ENF)

The immense heritage contained in the public archives of the EU Member States, a true goldmine of documents and records of historical, political, economic and social importance, is currently difficult to use.

This documentary material — some of it, incidentally, as yet unexplored — could be made far easier to consult, and an incentive created to use it, by means of a European digitisation programme, starting with the fonds which are most concerned with Europe’s political history. By way of example, there are the historical fonds in the collections of Venice State Archives concerning the international relations of the Most Serene Republic (from Mongolia to the Ottoman Porte), as well as all the material preserved in the Central State Archives in Rome concerning the history, town planning and economies of various African countries — former colonies — which are now independent.

Will the Commission promote a full programme of digitisation of documentary material, concerning in particular the political history of Europe, its peoples and its regions, for the purposes referred to above?