Historical Archives of the European Union

16/09/2026

🎉We're very happy to share news of a recent publication, "Women’s Narratives and European Integration History: From archives to transmedia storytelling: new insights", published by the University of Luxembourg and edited by Elena Danescu and François Klein at the C2DH - Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History.

Contributors examine women’s roles, networks and experiences in European and international relations, as well as the ways emerging sources and digital practices can open new perspectives on the past, from a broad range of interdisciplinary perspectives.

The volume includes a chapter by HAEU Director Dieter Schlenker, “Archives and women’s rights in Europe: The holdings of the Historical Archives of the European Union”, highlighting the archival resources available for research into women’s contributions to European integration and the history of women’s rights in Europe, here at the Archives on the European University Institute campus.

🔗 Read the volume, available in Open Access!: https://loom.ly/Glmn2Io

10/09/2026

📜🌿 Sustainability has a history — come and see it!

Explore beautiful maps, documents and archival treasures showing how people across Europe managed resources and adapted to their environment over the centuries.

"Storia e storie di sostenibilità" brings together material from 19 archives, from medieval records to European policy documents, revealing the creativity, ingenuity and practical solutions behind centuries of sustainable practices.

If you're in Florence, don't miss the final weeks of the exhibition at the Archivio di Stato di Firenze. There are just three Friday mornings left to join a free guided tour, at 10:00.

📍 Viale della Giovine Italia, 6 (Piazza Beccaria)
🗓 Until 29 September 2026
🕘 Monday–Friday, 9:00–17:00
👣 Free guided tour every Friday at 10:00, no booking required.
ℹ️ https://loom.ly/YetBsUQ

Come and discover sustainability through the archives! 🌱



Image: Veduta di Librafatta [vicino a Pisa, con mulino ad acqua] 1743, Italia Archivio di Stato di Firenze Rif.: ASFi, Piante dello Scrittoio delle Regie Possessioni, Tomi, 1, 75

09/09/2026

Why not include some aspect of European integration in your next research project?
We’re doing our best to tempt newly arrived European University Institute researchers and fellows, visiting for the afternoon as part of the EUI’s ‘September Programme’ .
Will they take up the challenge?
We hope so!

09/09/2026

📅 SAVE THE DATE – 16 October 2026

🎉 Celebrating 20 years of ECA–EUI Research Grants!

For two decades, the European Court of Auditors grants have supported researchers exploring the history of European public finances and accountability through the unique archival resources of the Historical Archives of the European Union. 📚🇪🇺

This anniversary workshop brings together researchers who have benefited from the grants, alongside archivists, academics and practitioners, for a day of discussion on the past, present and future of EU finances.

🔎 Topics include the history of EU audit, the budgetary discharge procedure, performance auditing, EU borrowing and joint debt — and what historical research can tell us about the challenges facing European public finances today.

📍 Hybrid event: Sala dei Cuoi, HAEU & Zoom
🕤 09:30–16:45 CEST

👉 Register: https://loom.ly/mnON0sI

Celebrating 20 years of the European Court of Auditors

08/09/2026

📜 : Ventotene, 8 September 1940: Ernesto Rossi writes to Ada Rossi
Forty years after the death of Altiero Spinelli, our monthly series looks back at an encounter that would become both a profound friendship and an important intellectual partnership.
In 1940, Spinelli and Ernesto Rossi were both confined on the island of Ventotene by the Fascist regime as political prisoners. There, in the enforced isolation of internal exile, two remarkable minds found one another.
On 8 September 1940, Rossi wrote to his wife, Ada, describing the young man he had come to know. Spinelli, then 33, had already spent much of his adult life imprisoned or in confinement. Rossi called him “l'uomo di maggiore valore che ho conosciuto finora al confino”—the man of greatest worth he had met during his confinement.
He described a man of extraordinary intelligence and vast culture, who had continued to study throughout prison and exile, learning languages and reading mathematics, physics, history and philosophy. But he also saw something more personal: someone tolerant, ready to laugh and joke, and able to distinguish the trivial from the essential values of civilisation.
And, alongside his words, Rossi drew him.
✏️ This small portrait and the accompanying letter offer a rare and intimate glimpse of Altiero Spinelli—not yet the celebrated European federalist of later years, but a young political prisoner seen through the eyes of a friend.
Their meeting on Ventotene was, in many ways, a chance encounter created by repression. Yet from that encounter grew a deep personal, intellectual and political affinity. Together with Eugenio Colorni, their discussions on the island would contribute to the development of the Manifesto di Ventotene, imagining a peaceful and united Europe beyond the nationalism and war that had devastated the continent.
Sometimes history begins with a meeting between two people who recognise, in one another, a shared way of seeing the world.
The letter and Ernesto Rossi's sketch of Spinelli are preserved at the Historical Archives of the European Union in the Ernesto Rossi private fonds.
Consult the Rossi fonds here: https://loom.ly/0Q_53xo

05/09/2026

🎬 Watch & vote for our Archivissima video! 👍❤️

Back in June, we took part in Archivissima, Turin’s annual festival celebrating archives, with a short video exploring something archives don’t always talk about: what is missing from the historical record?

🇮🇹 Quello che non c’è: riflessioni su ciò che manca negli archivi is in Italian, but we’d love for you to watch it — and, if you like it, give us a 👍 as your “favourite project”!

Every vote counts, so please show our archives some love! 🗳️📚

👉 Watch the video and vote here: https://loom.ly/VZeCqXU

04/09/2026

📢 How can history help us govern better?

At a time when Europe faces complex and interconnected challenges, understanding the history of European cooperation and integration can offer essential perspectives for the future.

Join us for a multidisciplinary roundtable, open to all, bringing together historians and political scientists to explore how knowledge of the past can inform approaches to the challenges of today's world—and why access to reliable information and historical sources is fundamental to good governance.

This public event is organised with the Florence School of Transnational Governance at the European University Institute, in the context of the Annual Graduate Conference on the History of European Integration, organised by the Alcide De Gasperi Centre for Research.

🎓 Chair: Prof. Emmanuel Mourlon-Druol (EUI)

👋 Welcome remarks: Prof. Johanna Mair, Director of the Florence School of Transnational Governance (EUI)

🗣️ Panelists:
• Prof. Grace Ballor (Bocconi University)
• Prof. Kristin Fabbe (EUI, STG)
• Prof. Johanna Mair (EUI, STG)

📅 14 September 2026
🕠 17:30–18:30 CEST
📍 Altiero Spinelli Amphitheatre, Via Cavour 61

👉 Register here: https://loom.ly/MpE4GNc

03/09/2026

📢 1 month left to apply!

The European Court of Auditors Research Grant Programme is celebrating its 20th edition! 🎉

For two decades, the programme has supported early career researchers exploring the history and development of European financial governance and policy through the archival holdings of the European Court of Auditors preserved at the Historical Archives of the European Union.

Once more, up to two grants are available for postgraduate students and early career academics working on the history of EU public finances, auditing and EU policy, broadly defined.

🗓️ Applications close: 6 October 2026

ℹ️ https://loom.ly/99vvVCI

02/09/2026

📢 NEW FONDS AVAILABLE!

The first historical records of the European Union Intellectual Property Office - EUIPO (EUIPO) are now available online at the Historical Archives of the European Union! 🎉

Dating from 1994 and 1995, the records include documents from the agency's Management Board, Budget Committee and presidential decisions.

🔗 Read more: https://loom.ly/W_5ysqM

The first historical records of the European Union Intellectual Property Office, dating from 1994 and 1995, are now available online at the Historical Archive

01/09/2026

📣 A call for researchers and artists to explore the European Cultural Foundation archives in Florence!

The European Cultural Foundation (ECF) is inviting applications for its new Fellowship Programme, supporting academic and artistic projects that engage with the history of the Foundation and the wider role of culture in shaping Europe.

The selected Fellows are expected to conduct substantial research in the European Cultural Foundation archival holdings, which are preserved here at the Historical Archives of the European Union.

At the HAEU, we are particularly excited about the opportunity to welcome researchers and artists who will explore these rich collections and bring fresh perspectives to the ideas, networks and activities that have shaped the ECF's history, but also a unique dimension of European integration history.

Two Fellowships are available:

🎓 Academic Research Fellowship — €5,000
🎨 Artistic Research Fellowship — €10,000

📅 Application deadline: 30 September 2026 at 17:00 CET

Spread the word!

🔗 https://loom.ly/OzGp9oc