Archival organizations at EU level: about DLM, EBNA and EAG

[I want to thank to Ton de Looijer for the invitation to contribute to Het Archiefforum.]

Nowadays -apart from EURBICA, the European Regional Branch of the ICA-, there are three main organizations concerning the field of records and archives at the European Union level. They are different types of organizations, with distinct aims, but the three are contributing to build a kind of “European archival policy” or, at least, to the European cooperation on this field. In order to avoid my terrible English, I'm going to use some quotes to identify these institutions.

DLM-Forum / DLM Network EEIG

Created by an initiative of the European Commission -based on the recommendations of the Group of Experts’ Report on Archives in the European Union (Blackbook: 1994), ratified by the European Council-,

The DLM Forum is a community of Public Archives and interested parties in archive, records and document and information lifecycle management throughout the EU. In 2002 at the third DLM Forum conference in Barcelona the community recommended to launch the European DLM Network. In 2004 the DLM Forum was founded as a constitutional organisation and a DLM Network EEIG, established in 2003 provides the legal entity to administer the Forum. [DLM Forum Constitution, 2004; Preamble]

It gathers a multidisciplinary series of members: from National Archives of any member state or acceding country, to any organization, Public Administration, association or individual involved in (electronic) Records Management. As we can see in his blog,

It has a remit from the EC to provide technology and knowledge transfer and information services, appropriate practice guidelines, benchmark indicators and information, educational, skills development and research opportunities.

To this end, the DLM was the lead body in producing the MoReq (Model Requirements) specification for Electronic Records Management Systems in 2001. This specification is currently being updated to MoReq2 which should become available in early 2008.

EBNA

There isn’t much information on EBNA, just some data about several meetings, as the following quote from the website of the Helsinki Meeting in November 2006:

European Board of National Archivists (EBNA) is a gathering of the National Archivists (Directors-General) of the National Archives Services of the EU Member States. EBNA convenes twice a year under the chairmanship of the EU-Presidency in question. In their meetings the National Archivists discuss the strategic questions of their profession and services: preservation of electronic records, digitisation, theft and natural disasters inflicting archives etc. A major recent question is EBNA’s relationship to the new actor in the archives field in the EU, namely the European Archives Group (EAG).

The following meeting of the EBNA will take place in Berlin (April 27th), under the German Presidency of the EU. Among its main activities, is worth highlighting its participation in the new Report on archives in the EU:

The members of the European Board of National Archivists (EBNA) played a central role in the experts´ group responsible for the Report on Archives in the Enlarged European Union. They have carried out considerable preparatory work to take forward the Report´s main recommendations, prior to its full approval by the Council of Ministers. [EBNA Conference in UK, November 2005]

EAG

The European Archives Group (EAG) was created following the Council recommendation, on priority actions to increase cooperation in the field of archives in Europe, adopted on 14 November 2005. The EAG comprises experts from the EU Member States and the institutions of the Union. It is to ensure cooperation and coordination on general matters relating to archives and follow up the work referred to in the Report on Archives in the enlarged European Union. More in particular the EAG is called on to implement the priority measures referred to in the Council recommendation, i.e.:

• preservation of and prevention of damage to archives in Europe;
• reinforcement of European interdisciplinary cooperation on electronic documents and archives;
• creation and maintenance of an internet portal to the archival heritage of the Union;
• promotion of best practice with regard to national and European law with regard to archives;
• measures to prevent theft and facilitate the recovery of stolen documents.

The EAG will present a progress report on the implementation of the priority measures to the Council in the autumn of 2008.

Moreover, according to the Council Recommendation, “Where and when appropriate, the European Archives Group should also cooperate with other relevant European networks such as the National Representatives Group on Digitisation and the European Bureau of Library, Information and Documentation (EBLIDA)”.

Some questions on the matter

Since the DLM-Forum takes care (mainly) of electronic records management from a multidisciplinary point of view, gathering a more or less heterogeneous group of members –beyond the archival sector-: Do you think will be necessary the creation of a new organization who also involves other interested parties, as professional associations, regional and local archives services, educational or training institutions, etc., in order to achieve a more representative EU-archival policy?

I don’t think so. One solution could come by opening EAG to other members (including representatives of the DLM-Network), beside the experts appointed by the different Member States and the EU institutions.

On the other hand, it could be good some institutionalization of the EBNA to provide more transparency and participation or, at least, some information spreading (using for example a weblog, as DLM-Forum do).

Better and greater “organizationism” would be beneficial to our profession, providing us more visibility and capacity for action in decision making processes, for example in digitization matters, as the European Digital Library.

What do you think about it?

Paco Fernández - @rchivista