The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) transferred 188 archival boxes, representing 97 linear metres of paper files, to the Historical Archives of the European Union (HAEU) at the end of 2025. The transfer was complemented in February 2026 by approximately 45 GB of digitised files, including more than 1,700 born-digital records — the first born-digital files to be transferred to the HAEU by a European institution or body. With documents produced between 1996 and 2005, the deposit contains 1,894 dossiers documenting the institutional, advisory, and administrative activities of the CoR.
In accordance with the thirty-years access rule of the European Union (EU), the materials in the CoR holdings will progressively become available for consultation via the HAEU's online database. All of the newly transferred files from CoR are in digital format or have been digitised.
In the interest of accessibility and research, the HAEU has enhanced the classification scheme provided by the Committee with detailed analytical descriptions of the files and relevant cross references.
This archival deposit constitutes a valuable resource for scholarly research on the evolution, functions and impact of the Committee of the Regions and its contribution to the history of European integration and EU governance.
Contents of the new transfer
A substantial part of the newly deposited records concerns the CoR’s role as an advisory body of the European Union. The records document the work of the Committee’s commissions, political groups, and the Cabinet of the Secretary-General, encompassing the full range of its consultative procedures, thus shedding light on local and regional perspectives on legislative proposals and policy initiatives of the EU, which the CoR represents.
Most notably, the files provide comprehensive documentation of the procedures leading up to the publication of the Opinions in the Official Journal of the European Union, including referral documents, the designation of rapporteurs and experts, successive draft texts, amendments discussed at both committee and plenary sessions, final adopted versions, and follow-up correspondence. The same procedural documentation is also available for reports and resolutions produced by the CoR. Moreover, analytical and evaluative reports assessing the impact and follow-up of the Committee’s consultative results, including periodic reports issued by the European Commission concerning the integration of CoR Opinions into legislative procedures, are also available.
A new series in the CoR fonds concerns the subsidiarity principle; since the 1994 Maastricht Treaty the CoR, along with national parliaments, has borne responsibility for monitoring compliance with subsidiarity. The files in this series document its analytical work on EU policymaking, as well as related dissemination activities, including monitoring mechanisms and the organisation of the biennial subsidiarity conference, a forum for inter-institutional dialogue and stakeholder engagement.
Another sub-fonds on enlargement and external relations illustrates both cooperation with countries who are candidates for EU accession, as well as work on potential withdrawal procedures for member states. This series includes material on the Liaison Group with Central and Eastern European countries and Cyprus, as well as the Joint Consultative Committees established with the Czech Republic, Poland, and Cyprus. These records highlight the Committee’s role in facilitating dialogue and institutional cooperation in the context of European integration.
Additional files concern the Committee’s annual research programmes designed to support studies approved by plenary decision, commissioned studies, and its recognition of doctoral research linked to the Committee’s thematic priorities through the awarding of an annual prize.
Finally, the fonds includes records relating to communication, information, and relations with external partners, associations, and citizens, offering insight into the Committee’s strategies for public engagement and institutional outreach.
The Committee of the Regions and the Historical Archives of the European Union
CoR’s recent deposits are in keeping with Council regulation 2015/496, whereby all EU institutions and agencies are directed to deposit and make available for public consultation their archives at the Historical Archives of the European Union, according to the thirty-years rule.
Photo: Jacque Delors Building, headquarters of the European Committee of the Regions and the European Economic and Social Committee, in Brussels, Belgium. Used with permission. © European Union