PRESS RELEASE

The final and binding business plan for the APE-F will be finalised at the next ESC meeting in November 2014 in Turin during the Italian presidency.

The Executive Steering Committee of the APEx project assembled at the General State Archives of Greece on 4 June last to assess the current operation of the project and the next steps to be taken regarding the process of establishing the Archives Portal Europe Foundation (APE-F). This foundation will be responsible for maintaining the Archives Portal Europe after the APEx project’s lifetime, ensuring the portal’s financial stability and continuous expansion.

The APE-F will be founded according to Dutch law with its headquarters The APE-F will be founded according to Dutch law with its headquarters (ie the operational office) in the Netherlands. The foundation will be comprised of paying associates who have the right to vote at their assemblies as well as to elect the Executive Committee piloting the APE-F. The fees for the associates will be calculated in such a manner that all operations of the portal are sustainably ensured in accordance with the foundation’s Executive Committee’s guidance. The fees will be decided upon within the Assembly of Associates. decided upon within the Assembly of Associates.

Since the first steps towards founding the APE-F were initiated in Vilnius (LT) in 2013, the following principles were agreed at the Athens meeting:

- The integration of data into the Archives Portal Europe is and will remain free of charge for content providers. Data should ideally be provided in EAD format. In order for content providers to fulfil these conditions, the portal provides the necessary data conversion tools, on- as well as offline.

- Paying a fee will be required to become an associate of the - Paying a fee will be required to become an associate of the Archives Portal Europe Foundation and only associates are eligible to vote. Associates unable to raise the required sum will be supported by other associates in the form of a buddy system.

- The APE-F will be officially founded in the summer of 2014 in order to guarantee a smooth transition from the foundation by having a certain overlap of central activities foundation by having a certain overlap of central activities during the transition phase.

Jane Stevenson, The Archives HubUnited Kingdom

Want to know what our partners think about the Archives Portal Europe?

Here’s a little insight into the thoughts and experiences from our team members.

ZsófiaKómlosi-GeraNaonalArchivesofHungary

http://www.mnl.gov.hu/

MarinaGianeoIstutoCentralepergliArchiviItaly

http://www.san.beniculturali.it/web/san/