|
"The Commission continues to believe that 'the
EDCs are key information points' and they will certainly
be an important part of the Union's future information
policy. "
Answer given by Mr Prodi on behalf of the Commission
(22th March 2002). "OJEC" C 301 E (5/12/2002)
31.
The European Documentation Centres (EDC) have a crucial
role in the support of Education and Research on European
Integration, as they are engaged in cataloguing, indexing
and disseminating the European Official Publications
but are also the pro-active agents in the search of
European information. These Centres started being created
in the Member-States and in the Third Countries from
1963 onwards, in High Education and Research Institutions,
through a Convention signed between the Institution
and the European Commission.
Initially voted to the academic and scientific community,
today the EDCs are catalytic elements of the transparency
policy of the European Commission in the harmonisation
of the European policies to the European citizen, engaging
their Institutions in the debate of the European issues.
In Portugal the EDCs were also the first Centres of
the whole European Information Relays Network. The first
Centre was created in 1974, and today there are in this
country nineteen Centres, seventeen in the Continent and
the remainder in the islands of Madeira and Azores.
The present Portuguese Co-ordination of the European
Documentation Centres, in office since October 2001,
is exercised in partnership between the Head Librarians
of the Universidade Lusíada of Lisbon and the
Instituto Nacional de Administração (INA)
. In the Annual Programme for 2003, this Co-ordination
is planning to go on with the project of creating a
National Database for European Information, which goals
are to access the national scientific production as
well as all the European Information available in the
various public and private organisations. A second project
for 2003 is the website of the Portuguese EDC Network
which has now been finished and made public, after a
first draft was presented on the occasion of the EDC
national meeting last October.
The Portuguese co-ordinators are thus happy to announce
the first website for the Portuguese EDC Network, which
is intended to be a special place for the dissemination
of EU issues and communication among the European information
professionals.
Lisbon, 6th March 2003
The Co-ordinators,
Helder da Rocha Machado
Vera Batalha
|
