To mark the twentieth anniversary of the contract of deposit of the archives of the Community Institutions in Florence, on 27 September 2004 the President of the Commission, Romano Prodi, and the President of the European University Institute, Yves Mény, put their signatures to a Common Declaration to celebrate the development of the Archives and to confirm support for its work in the future.
In the presence of representatives of the Italian Ministry for Culture and Public Works, the Regione Toscana, and the Mayor of Florence, Professor Mény presented the President of the European Executive with the plans for the restoration of Villa Salviati.
The Villa is a prestigious historical building which has been put at the disposal of the EUI by the Italian state, and which is destined to become the new seat of the Historical Archives of the European Union.
The ceremony was followed by a visit to the Villa Salviati.