We, the representatives of these institutions, have recognized the necessity to strengthen our co-operation and express our common purpose in a European network. In this process, we are following up on the initiative expressed in Resolutions 1096 (1996) and 1481 (2006) of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (among others), which emphasize the importance of the prosecution of crimes committed by Communist regimes, as well as informing the public of these crimes and opening the secret police archives maintained by these dictatorships.

As state-operated institutions with a legally codified mandate to enable access to these files, we in the European Union seek to state clearly our common position on these issues. We seek to be a forum for the mutual exchange and transfer of information: this applies to the archives, the legal regulations, the historical-political education and public relations, and research. With the establishment of this European network, we would like to make clear that these issues do not encompass merely a national context. They involve coming to terms with the past in a European, an international context.

We desire to stress the importance of opening the files and access to these files, which is regulated in accordance with the rule of law and also the importance of independent research and wide spread information about the secret police of dictatorships and its representatives. Our common aim is to support each other in the fulfilment of these tasks. We desire to guarantee the full independence of archival research. Any kind of political instrumentalization must be prevented. We desire to advocate this together and publicly.

In this process, we acknowledge that the nations concerned – notwithstanding the common basis of their aims – follow a different approach, as for example, in their internal structure, in regulating legal and factual access to the files, in the assignment of jurisdiction for the investigation of crimes committed by dictatorial regimes, and the lustration and vetting in politics and administration.

In the context of a multi-faceted landscape of state- and non-state-operated agencies, institutions, and initiatives involving research institutes, foundations, memorial sites, museums, and victims’ groups – our European Network serves to promote the common aim of enhancing efforts on academic, social, and political levels to come to terms with the past. It will do so with regard to the different experiences with repression experienced by the countries involved. Particular importance should be attached to independent academic research and the historical-political education of European youth in particular. The purpose of this network is to involve other agencies, institutions, and initiatives in its work – and to find suitable forms of involvement.

We are convinced that access to the secret police files is an important aspect of the transformation processes taking place after the fall of dictatorships worldwide. Therefore, the network aims to define minimum requirements for access to secret police files kept by dictatorships.

In order to inform the public, the network will first create comparative surveys of access to the files, the legal principles governing this access, and the structure of the responsible institutions, as well as of the utilization of their services. The network will focus on the subject-specific, independent fulfilment of tasks in order to eliminate the possibility of any kind of political instrumentalization.