Oral History

Voices on Europe

Voices on Europe concentrates on the theme of European integration and cooperation, and was carried out by the Jean Monnet history chairs on behalf of the European Commission, with the technical and financial support of the Historical Archives of the European Union.

It includes 104 transcripts of interviews with politicians, diplomats, and executive officials from eight Member States, engaged in the European integration process.

The interviews are available for consultation according to the rules laid down by the interviewees and the institutional producers. Access to interviews may be subject to prior authorisation, to be obtained via email request

The European Commission 1958-1973. Memories of an institution

This oral history programme was launched in relation to the publication of The European Commission 1958-1973: History and Memories of an Institution (2007).

Carried out by a team of international historians, under the direction of Professor Michel Dumoulin of the Catholic University of Leuven, it comprises 113 interviews, given by senior European officials who worked at the Commission or in other EU institutions.

The HAEU gave technical assistance, produced the inventory and provided online access to the transcripts of the interviews.

These testimonies can be consulted, in accordance with the rules established by the witnesses/interviewees and the Institutions concerned.

Access to interviews may be subject to prior authorisation, to be obtained via email request.

The European Commission 1973-1986. Memories of an institution

This oral history programme was produced as part of the publication The European Commission 1973-1986: History and Memories of an Institution, the second volume of the history of the Commission published in 2014.

It comprises 218 interviews conducted by a consortium of 22 professors with senior European Union officials. About 150 transcriptions and around 100 short extracts of audio recordings are available in the online database. The complete set of transcripts and recordings can be consulted on site at Villa Salviati, in accordance with the rules laid down by the interviewees and the researchers conducting the interviews.

Access to some interviews may be subject to prior authorisation to be obtained via email request.

The European Commission 1986-2000. Memories of an institution

This oral history programme was launched in relation to the publication of The European Commission 1986-2000: History and Memories of an Institution (2019), the third volume on the history of the European Commission.
Carried out by a team of international historians, under the direction of Vincent Dujardin, Éric Bussière, Piers Ludlow, Federico Romero, Dieter Schlenker and Antonio Varsori, it comprises interviews conducted with senior European Union officials.

Fifty-two professors and researchers, belonging to more than thirty universities or research centers in Europe or the United States and to about fifteen countries, took part in the work of this consortium. The HAEU gave technical assistance, produced the inventory and provided online access to the recordings and transcripts of the interviews.
These testimonies can be consulted according to the rules established by the witnesses/interviewees and the Institutions concerned.

Access to interviews may be subject to prior authorisation, to be obtained via email request.

Collecting memories: European Parliament 1979-2019

The oral history project 'Collecting memories: European Parliament 1979-2019' was launched to mark the 40th anniversary of the first direct elections to the Parliament.
The project aims to use the personal recollections of Members of the European Parliament who witnessed the changing role of the institution as a way of assessing what the Parliament has and has not achieved since 1979.

The project includes interviews with MEPs that were conducted by a research team consisting of Alfredo De Feo, Francis Jacobs, Gerard Laprat, Dietmar Nickel and Michael Shackleton – all former staff of the Parliament.

The project received support from the Historical Archives of the European Union, the Former Members Association of the European Parliament and Professor Christine Neuhold at Maastricht University in the Netherlands.

The European Parliament Contribution to the European Project (1979-2019)

"The European Parliament Contribution to the European Project: Perspectives from insiders and associated actors (1979-2019)" serves as a continuation of the initiative, "Collecting Memories: European Parliament 1979-2019." This project includes interviews with senior officials of the European Parliament, along with representatives from other institutions who closely observed the Parliament's evolution.

A dynamic extension of this project takes the form of a blog. Within this digital space, concise posts delve into individual topics, pivotal events, and significant policies. These posts are enriched with extracts from pertinent oral interviews, providing readers with a nuanced understanding of the myriad ways in which the elected Parliament contributed to the European project during its initial four decades.

This project has been co-ordinated by Alfredo De Feo and Michael Shackleton as Visiting Fellows at EUI, with the advice of Professor Adrienne Heritier and the support of the Historical Archives of the European Union.

Oral History of Europe in Space

Oral History of Europe in Space is a project run by the European Space Agency, with the collaboration of the European University institute (Historical Archives of the European Union).

The objective of this project is to record the memories and experiences of those individuals having played a central role in the development of European space cooperation, in view to make them accessible to the researchers and the public. It includes transcripts of a series of historical interviews with key personalities within ESA Member States having worked in ministries, space agencies (national and ESA), scientific institutes and industry. The interviews cover all areas of space activities: space science, Earth observation, telecommunications, navigation, launchers, and human spaceflight. About 20 interviews were conducted in the '90s by senior historians (John Krige, Arturo Russo, Lorenza Sebesta) in the framework of the ESA History Project. Another 30 interviews were carried out by historians involved in the Extended ESA History Project (Dawinka Laureys, Matthew Godwin, David Redon, Stephan Zellmeyer, Nina Wormbs, Manuella Giovannini, Niels Eilskov Jensen, etc.) and are available for consultation according to the rules laid down by the interviewees. Further in-depth interviews with prominent space pioneers in Germany were done by Prof. Dr. Helmuth Trischler and Dr. Matthias Knopp in 2010, and by Dr. Peter Habison in Austria. Currently, five oral history interviews are being conducted in Finland.

Whereas the original ESA History Project dealt mainly with the intergovernmental collaborative effort in space in the framework of ESRO, ELDO and ESA, the main focus of research in the Extended ESA History Project is the history of national space programmes set against a background of European space cooperation. A description of the ESA History Project can be found in the ESA Bulletin No 119, pages 48-54, August 2004. In 2009, the ESA History Project was awarded the Alexandre Koyré Medal by the International Academy of the History of Science (IAHS).

• ESA Mission History


• ESA History Project bibliography


• ESA on YouTube
• ESA History of Europe in space

Some of the interviews are subject to prior authorisation via email request.

European University Institute

The EUI series of interviews consists of accounts collected in light of research activities of the European University Institute. The interviews retrace the process of the construction of Europe at the institutional, political, economic, military and scientific levels.

The interviews can be consulted in accordance with the rules established by the interviewees and the Institutions concerned.

Access to interviews may be subject to prior authorisation, to be obtained via email request.

Jean Monnet, Statesman of Interdependence

The programme Jean Monnet, Statesman of Interdependence was carried out between 1987 and 1991 by François Duchêne, historian and biographer of Jean Monnet.

It includes 64 interviews with personalities who worked alongside, or were familiar with, Jean Monnet. The interviews cover a broad overview of his life, ranging from his time as a business man in the 1930’s to his role in the negotiations for the establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community, and later Euratom and the European Economic Community.

The transcripts are available online and brief citations can be made in accordance with the norms for academic citations.

Access to interviews may be subject to prior authorisation, to be obtained via email request.

Historical Archives of the European Union Holdings

The Holdings group is composed of interviews which are part of HAEU’s archival deposits.

They are consultable in accordance with HAUE’s general consultation rules and the depositors wishes.

Access to interviews may be subject to prior authorisation, to be obtained via email request

Leaders Beyond The State

The 'Leaders Beyond the State' oral history programme records the rich experiences of former Presidents of European Union Institutions as leaders in transnational governance. The private interviews are organized by the Historical Archives of the European Union with support from the EUI School of Transnational Governance and Department of History and Civilization.

The project will run over a number of years and include interviews with approximately 15 former Presidents, each reflecting on their time in office working in European Institutions, such as the European Parliament, the Council , the Court of Justice, the European Commission and the European Central Bank.

The interviews are available for consultation according to the rules laid down between the interviewees and the HAEU.