Fonds of Presidents of the European Parliament
The papers of the Presidents' cabinets since 1962 represent a major archival source for the history of the European Parliament. Containing more than 16,000 files testifying to almost sixty years of activity, these Fonds are an invaluable resource for anyone interested in discovering more about the endeavours of Presidents and their Cabinets over the years.
Presidents and the Archives
Presidential and Cabinet documents are a key example of the political and administrative life of the institution and of the European Parliament’s role in interinstitutional and international relations. The Cabinet of Simone Veil was the first to transfer its documents, as well as those of some previous presidents, to the Archives. In 1995, President Klaus Hansch initiated a major programme of systematically archiving the files of all Presidents since 1979. The documents received by the Historical Archives of the European Parliament for each presidential cabinet were organised by subject in order to highlight the main issues dealt with by the President during their term of office.
Individual fonds of Presidents of the Common Assembly of the ECSC, the Ad Hoc Assembly and the European Parliament prior to direct elections (1952-1977) do not exist. Rather, documents relating to these presidencies can be found in the series relating to debates, plenary sessions, Bureau meetings and meetings of the Commission of the Four Presidents.
