Under the 30-year rule on access, the documents currently being transferred to Florence are those produced by the predecessors of the institutions and organs which existed before the entry into force of the Treaty on European Union.
These are, the High Authority, the Special Council of Ministers and the Common Assembly of the ECSC which, together with the Court of Justice, constituted the initial European Community before the merger of the Executives in July 1967.
Under Article 4 of the Contract between the European University Institute (EUI) and the Institutions (17 December 1984), the arrangement of the files remains the exclusive responsibility of each Institution.
The Historical Archives must respect the order established by the Institution, and no changes are allowed. The archival services in Brussels and Luxembourg are responsible for developing finding aids.
The Historical Archives of the European Union are responsibile for preserving the original documents and making them available to researchers now and in the future.