Collection and access

Our collections make it possible to retrace the Council’s history and role in EU integration, including records of Council, Coreper and European Council meetings, the Council’s legislative activity, treaty negotiations and lots more.

The Council's archive collection

The Council Archives describe, digitize and publish online files with historic and administrative value. The original paper documents are sent to the European Union Historical Archives (EUHA), which are located in the European University Institute in Florence.

The Council's archive collection is divided into different collections based on the various stages of the EU's legal basis:

Journalists gathered around a table with the book of the Treaty of Amsterdam following its signature — Signing the Treaty of Amsterdam, 2 October 1997.

European Coal and Steel Community

The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), as defined by the Treaty of Paris (1952) - collection CM1

European Economic Community and European Atomic Energy Community

The European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC), as defined by the Treaties of Rome (1957) - collection CM2

Intergovernmental negotiations

This collection covers files relating to intergovernmental negotiations, such as:

treaty negotiations
the Treaties of Rome
Treaty establishing a Single Council and a Single Commission of the European Communities
others

Treaty negotiations

This is a collection of the European Union, from the Treaty of Maastricht to the Treaty of Lisbon (1993-2008). The collection is not yet publicly available.

Accession negotiations

This collection contains documents relating to the accession negotiations between the Communities and the accession countries. The files contain information on preparations for the negotiating conference meetings and the establishing of the Community position on the various chapters negotiated.

The inventory has been enriched with a fairly complete collection of verbatim records and also contains an extensive collection of secondary Community legislation translated into the languages of the countries that have become member states.

Yaoundé, Lomé and Cotonou negotiations

Collection containing files relating to negotiations between the EEC and then the EU with African, Caribbean and some Pacific states / countries in the framework of the Yaoundé Convention, then the Lomé Convention and finally the Cotonou Agreement. The inventory presents the negotiations on those legal frameworks and the meetings of all bodies created by the treaties and the related legislative acts.

European Economic Area and Association Councils

This collection covers files relating to the European Economic Area and Association Councils and negotiations between the EU and non-EU countries. It is not yet available online but files older than 30 years can be consulted on request.

European Union

This is a collection of the European Union, as defined by the Treaty of Lisbon. Unfortunately. The collection is not yet publicly available.