Archival networks in Italy

Transcription

1 Archival networks in Italy SILVIA TRANI The Italian archival model: origins and development The form of archival organisation adopted with the legislation of , shortly after the proclamation of the unified Italian state, was determined by the strong links between archives and the institutional, political and cultural context 1. First and foremost, the need to defend the new and still fragile country threatened by anti-national pressures from the clerical and anarchical spheres prompted the ruling class to opt for a uniform, centralised model. As in the other modern nation states created and developed from the 18th century on, the almost religious cult of the nation in post-unification Italy meant that paramount importance was attached to the preservation and protection of archives, regarded as embodying national memory and elevated to the status of emblems of the origins, identity and legitimacy of the nation itself. This involved above all documents of a governmental nature, including those inherited from the pre-unification states and those already produced or to be produced by organs and the offices of the Kingdom of Italy. Responsibility for supervising and controlling the preservation, transmission and utilisation of the official memory was assigned to a network of state archives operating under the authority of the Ministry of the Interior, a key organ of the Liberal administrative system endowed with crucial functions of public order and the symbol, in that historical moment, of the most rigid centralisation of the new Italian state. Suffice it to consider the control it exercised over bodies of local government. In general terms, the custody of state records is still the responsibility of the 137 repositories of the Archives Administration. The first of these is the Central State Archives, based in Rome and originally founded as the Archives of the Kingdom of Italy in 1875, which is legally responsible for holding the records produced by the central organs of the state as from national unification. Then we have 101 state archives, one located in each provincial capital, which are 1 Royal decrees nos and 1861 of 1874 and no of 1875.

2 2 responsible by law for the records of the peripheral organs of the state as well as those of the central and peripheral organs of the states existing prior to national unification. These have 35 branches or sections in smaller towns that hold important archival fonds with a bearing on local history. These repositories are responsible by law for holding the archives of suppressed religious bodies, notarial records and the records of abolished state organisations. They can also receive the records of active public bodies and acquire private archives through loan, donation, bequest or purchase 2. Not all of state documentation is, however, subject to control on the part of the Archives Administration and to the obligation of transfer to the state archives. The constitutional organs, namely the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic 3, the Presidency of the Republic 4 and the Constitutional Court 5, have their own archives, as do central organs such as the Foreign Ministry 6, the Ministry of Defence and the General Staffs of the Army, Navy and Air Force, and the Carabinieri special police force. There are also museums operating within the sphere of the armed forces that perform the function of holding military records of both institutional and personal nature 7. The Italian Archives Administration is also responsible for the safeguarding of non-state archives, a function already present, albeit in a weak form, in the regulations on state archives issued in , which established state control over the records of provinces, municipalities, juridical persons protected by the government or existing by virtue of law, and the documents produced by diocesan authorities and ecclesiastical dignitaries in the exercise of civil jurisdiction. These non-state bodies were required to preserve, to arrange and, as from , to inventory their records. With the law of 1939, the state s powers of archival control and supervision extended to practically all public bodies, including parastatal organisations auxiliary agencies of the state, public 2 For a description of the holdings of the state archives, readers are referred to the Guida generale degli archivi di Stato italiani, Ministero per i beni culturali e ambientali, Ufficio centrale per i beni archivistici, Rome, , 4 vols., which is also accessible online at (site visited on 12 June 2014). For updated information, see the state information system: Sistema informativo degli archivi di Stato (SIAS), (visited on 12 June 2014). 3 The two parliamentary archives were recognised by law no. 147 of The Archivio storico della Presidenza della Repubblica was recognised by law no. 395 of The Archivio storico della Corte costituzionale was recognised by legislative decree no. 490 of 1999, including the unified law on the cultural and natural heritage. 6 The Archivio storico diplomatico del Ministero degli Affari esteri was recognised by decree of the President of the Republic no of The archives of the Ministry of Defence, the armed forces and the Carabinieri were recognised by legislative decrees nos. 490 of 1999 and 62 of The latter contains modifications to the code of cultural and natural heritage introduced by legislative decree no. 42 of The above-mentioned royal decree no Royal decree no. 445 approving the general regulatory framework of the state archives.

3 3 institutions of welfare and charity, banks operating under public law and trade union organisations 10. Archival superintendencies were created as operative instruments to exercise these powers, thus giving birth to a second network separate from that of the state archives, which were instead responsible for the supervision and preservation of state documents 11. The archival law of 1939 is of key importance in the history of the preservation of the national memory, not least because it completely regulated state control over private archives, again through the newly created archival superintendencies. It focused in particular on the owners, possessors or holders of archives declared to be of historical interest by the archival superintendent. This declaration automatically entailed state protection and the archives could not be divided, dismembered or exported without authorisation from the superintendent in question. In the event of donation or sale, the state was to enjoy the right of first refusal. Finally, in the absence of solid guarantees of sound preservation of the material or in case of illicit actions (attempts at illegal exportation, dismemberment, destruction or dispersal), provision was made for the possibility of confiscation and/or compulsory transfer to a state archives. The subsequent archival legislation of 1963 broadened and completed the control of the Archives Administration over non-state archives 12, a situation then confirmed by provisions on the cultural and natural heritage introduced in 1999 and Under the laws now in force, the records and documents of all public 10 Law no Some important innovations had previously been introduced as regards the records of public bodies: prohibition of disposal for some categories of public bodies (provinces, municipalities and charitable institutions) without authorisation from the relevant state archives (royal decree no of 1911); clear attribution to state archives of the function of control over the records of public bodies, including responsibility for compiling inventories and undertaking restoration where necessary (royal decree no. 277 of 1920). 11 The soprintendenze archivistiche created in 1939 took over only the name of the peripheral offices of the Archives Administration created by the above-mentioned law of 1874, which can be described as small-scale general directorates of the state archives with broad powers as regards technical archival questions and personnel. With the strengthening of ministerial centralisation, the 19th-century superintendencies lost their importance and were thus abolished by royal decree no. 745 of Decree of the President of the Republic no Among various innovations, this defined files closed for over forty years as the historical part of an archives. At the time of writing, the Italian parliament is examining a decree presented by the present Minister of Cultural heritage that envisages reducing this term to thirty years. 13 With legislative decree no. 490 of 1999 all the provisions regarding the various sectors of cultural heritage and the sector of environmental heritage were gathered together and, as a result, the law on archives of 1963 was almost completely abrogated. The law of 1999 was in turn abolished and replaced by the code of cultural and natural heritage in Among the other measures introduced after 1963 with a bearing on non-state archives, attention can be drawn here to the decree of the President of the Republic no. 805 of 1975, regarding the organisation of the Ministero per i beni culturali e ambientali; legislative decree no. 112 of 1998, on transferring administrative responsibilities and functions from the state to the regions and local bodies; legislative decree no. 3 and

4 4 bodies are regarded as state property (and hence inalienable) and constitute part of the national cultural heritage, as do the private archives and documents declared to be of historical interest by archival superintendents. Both these categories of records must be correctly arranged and safely stored, preserved in all their integrity as organic wholes, restored where necessary, and made accessible to the public in accordance with the limits and guarantees envisaged by current legislation 14. The task of exercising control and supervision over nonstate archives is still assigned to the archival superintendencies 15, currently operating as peripheral organs of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Tourism (Ministero dei beni e delle attività culturali e del turismo), created in 1974 as the Ministero per i beni culturali e ambientali, to which the Archives Administration has been subordinate since We shall conclude this brief overview of the legislative measures adopted in order to safeguard non-state archives by recalling that in the event of failure to meet the set obligations on the part of the owners of public and private archives declared to be of cultural interest, the state can enforce the execution of the operations required at the expense of the owner, possessor or holder. In the case of operations of particular importance or on items of public use and enjoyment, the state can bear all or part of the expense or reimburse the owner s expenses 17. The conservative destination and consequently the tutelage (surveillance and security) of the Italian State upon the national archives and private archives (of the public and private corporations) are established by legal character of their subjects, which created them. However, beyond the control measures as decree of the President of the Republic no. 173, both of 2004, regarding the organisation of the Ministero per i beni e le attività culturali. 14 Access to all archives is governed by the code of ethics and good conduct for historical research of 2001 (now an appendix of the code for the protection of personal data, approved by legislative decree no. 196 of 2003) and the above-mentioned code of cultural and natural heritage of There are 19 soprintendenze archivistiche (Piedmont and Valle d Aosta being combined) and they have jurisdiction over the non-state archives present in the territory of the region in whose capital they are based. 16 Law decree no. 657 of 1974 and law no. 5 of 1975, making the new ministry responsible for the sectors of antiquities and fine arts, academies, libraries and archives. As regard the latter, the Ministry of the Interior retained some powers as regards access to classified documents in accordance with decree of the President of the Republic no. 854 of For an overview of Italian archival organisation and legislation since national unification, see E. Lodolini, Organizzazione e legislazione archivistica italiana, Pàtron Editore, Bologna, ; Idem, Legislazione sugli archivi. Storia, normativa, prassi, organizzazione dell amministrazione archivistica, Pàtron Editore, Bologna, , 2 vols.; S. Twardzik, La consultabilità dei documenti, in Archivistica. Teorie, metodi, pratiche, ed. L. Giuva and M. Guercio, Rome, Carocci, 2014 (Beni culturali, 42), pp

5 5 expected from regulations, other elements supported the preservation of nonpublic papers with the passage of time. With regard to intended obligation (preservation, papers system, exterior use) there are numerous benefits for private archives, which ensue from records legislation. There is also considered a statement of noteworthy historic interest for private archives. This statement doesn t refuse a normal propriety papers rights (as for the house), but being a papers recognition of value ( preciosity ) it increases its economic value. Also the possibility of access to the national financing (which is mentioned in this paper) was in favor for diffusion of the papers preservation. Those preservation culture concerns are a result of the Italian policy of Records Administration Office which always looks for public and private institution in order to involve them in arrangements, agreements, conventions or ventures as a study groups, conference and publication teams, etc. Finally, for private archives classified as noteworthy historic interest the national legislature recognizes a further exception: the owner s right to establish the condition of non-consultation for the whole or for a part of papers (but for a maximum of 70 years). Regarding the private archives it is the case of archives of private corporations, and those, which belong to families or individuals. For the varied typology, the number (the quantity) of such archives is extremely significant. For instance, it is the case of: family archives generally there are archives, which belong to noble families or to families that have an eminent part in the administrative, economic or social levels. Aside from the evident interest which points at the events records of family units, the private archives show as well the evidence of a particular importance as usually they are; the completion of public archives situated in cities, regions and States whose legal and administrative organs were usually representatives from those families. individual archives the activity of preservation, collecting, reorganization and stocktaking had been developed in Italy during the latest decades. Aside from their evident interest which points at biographic records, the individual archives are as well one of the privileged source for studies about numerous aspects of our society. In fact, they are essentially a contemporary phenomenon. Indeed, except from some cases referring to the modern age (as a rule they are inserted in the archives fonds which belong to noble families), individual fuods had become an important phenomenon only since eighteen century. Their diffusion coincides with the statement about principle of individuality typical for the Romantic culture and then for the liberal culture, and subsequently it coincides with a mononuclear middle-class family.

6 6 ecclesiastical archives the Agreement between the Italian Ministry of Heritage and Cultural Activities and the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI) in relation to preservation and consumption by the exterior users of the historic archives as well as the libraries which belong to ecclesiastic corporations and institutions, determined the principles of their conservation and consultation which are fundamental for collaboration between the ecclesiastic authorities and the Italian State. For instance, the CEI made a commitment to assure the conservation and to open the archives consultation, while the Italian Ministry of Heritage and Cultural Activities made a commitment to provide, by its regional boards, the technical collaboration and financial contributions with the purpose of protection and promotion. non-catholic religious communities archives Jewish community archives, and recently Orthodox, Greek and Serb communities archives; also Waldenses archives. other private archives: foundations, bank institutions, corporations, political parties, trade unions, etc. The Italian legislature decided some years ago that the public corporations must establish within their structures historical archives. So that for historical archives of public corporations the concentration/preservation remains a producing subjects matter. The private corporations may protect papers or donate them or make a deposit at national archives, at historical archives of public corporations or at private preservative corporations (for instance, cultural foundations or cultural associations). A register of non-national archives doesn t exist (checked with archives superintendence of Latium). 2. From decentralisation to pluralism: the birth and development of alternative archival networks The archival policies adopted in the 19th century almost immediately presented shortcomings that led to the birth of requirements and pressures that began to challenge and actually to weaken the role attributed to the state archives as the primary actors involved in the protection and knowledge of the national archival heritage. These shortcomings include the initially small number of state archives, established above all in the former capitals of the states existing prior to national unification, and the decision to accord priority to the protection and preservation of state documentation. This limited the development and spread of culture and historical studies, and resulted in the destruction of a part of national memory. The creation of repositories other than the state archives commenced in order to

7 7 remedy this situation, whose inherent dangers were pointed out by scholars and archivists as early as the second half of the 19th century. Further reasons for the phenomenon of archival fragmentation, and its consolidation, can be found in the elements of ambiguity introduced by the first archival laws, which in turn reflected an as yet incomplete theoretical grasp of the situation. In actual fact, the legislation displayed in many instances an insufficient understanding of the differences between an archives, a library and a museum, thus causing archival material to be split up and spread over different types of institution 18. This lack of conceptual clarity is also attested by a series of initiatives, undertaken directly by the state archives, which led to records being gathered together and stored in places like museums, which are by their very nature unsuitable for archival preservation. The museumization of archives thus saw single documents being extrapolated from the fonds to which they belonged and used for popularising, educational purposes in the same way as physical items and sources. Examples of this scientifically incorrect treatment of documentary material are to be found not only in museums of the armed forces, the Risorgimento and World War I but also within the sphere of the Archives Administration itself. An example is provided by the museum of the Turin State Archives, founded in 1873 with the purpose of using documents extracted and isolated from their context of production to present a political and ideological exhibit celebrating the history of the House of Savoy and glorifying its political project that culminated in the creation of the unified Kingdom of Italy Examples include royal decree no of 1866 on the abolition of religious corporations; royal law decree no. 84 of 1930 on the Italian Red Cross, subsequently converted into law no. 578 of 1930; and the archival law no of 1939, whose uncertainty over the concept of the document fostered the continued existence of confusion as to the difference between archival and bibliographic material. See L. Cassese, Intorno al concetto di materiale archivistico e materiale bibliografico, in Notizie degli Archivi di Stato, IX (1949), pp ; E. Lodolini, Archivi e biblioteche: due realtà antitetiche, in Sit liber gratus, quem servulus est operatus. Studi in onore di Alessandro Pratesi per il suo 90 compleanno, ed. P. Cherubini and G. Nicolaj, II, Scuola Vaticana di paleografia, diplomatica e archivistica, Vatican City, 2012 (Lettera antiqua, 19), pp ; G. Paoloni, Il documento e le sue istituzioni. Archivi, biblioteche, musei, in Archivistica. Teorie, op..cit., pp In actual fact, while reasserting the requirement to preserve archives intact as organic wholes and prohibiting any dismemberment of the same, the 2004 code of cultural and natural heritage again displays some uncertainty over the concept of the document by incorporating ambiguous formulations inherited from the dispute over the distinction between archival and bibliographic material, which appeared to have been definitively settled by the archival law of For the limitations of the code of cultural and natural heritage, see P. Carucci, Alcune considerazioni sul codice dei beni culturali, in Archivi, I (2006), 1, pp ; E. Lodolini, Proposte di correzioni al codice dei beni culturali e del paesaggio per il settore degli archivi, in Archivi, I (2006), 2, pp I. Massabò Ricci, Il Museo storico dell Archivio di Stato. Apologia dinastica e storia nazionale, in Archivio di Stato di Torino, Il tesoro del principe. Titoli, carte, memorie per il governo dello Stato, Società editrice internazionale, Turin, 1989, pp

8 8 The concentration of documents outside the state archives was also due in some historical phases to the incapacity demonstrated by the Archives Administration to exercise real control over the country s records, including those of the state. Examples include the above-mentioned creation by the constitutional organs and some central organs of the state of repositories serving solely as structures of informational and documentary support for exclusively internal purposes 20. This weakness has been made evident once again in recent years by the ever-greater lack of financial resources, personnel and premises. These shortcomings have not only severely tested the ability of the Archives Administration to perform its task of preservation effectively but also weakened the traditional role of the state archives as territorial repositories with respect to the activism of other public and private institutions. In addition to the above elements of a negative character, the present-day situation in Italy reflects a cultural project, embodied in the relevant legislation, that sees the state in any case as the linchpin of activities of protection and preservation that accord priority to the state records concentrated in the state archives, uniform structures located throughout national territory. Alongside this phenomenon of archival concentration, the normative principle whereby the preservation of non-current records depends on the legal nature of their creator has determined and strengthened the simultaneous presence of other networks for the preservation of non-state material. In actual fact, as we have already seen, it is generally obligatory for non-current records to be preserved on the creator s premises in the case of public bodies (both territorial and non-territorial), whereas private archives declared to be of historical interest by archival superintendents are to be held in repositories chosen by the creator. Another factor that has influenced the geographical distribution of the preservation network is the principle that documents, especially those of a public character, must remain in the places or areas where they were produced. At the same time, the control exercised by the state over non-state archives has served, within the sphere of the repositories involved, to foster a broader knowledge of archival culture and theory. An example is provided by the legal requirement for public bodies to store non-current records in an internal structure (a separate archives section) whose director must, in the case of some types of public body, be in possession of the relevant diploma from one of the schools operated by the state archives or a university. Moreover, the arrangement and cataloguing of protected archives must be planned and carried out on a sound methodological basis by qualified archivists. For these reasons. the archival superintendencies also keep special lists of freelance professional archivists with 20 The origins of these historical state archives date back in some cases to the institutional framework of the Kingdom of Sardinia and thus the period prior to Italian unification. Their creation was in actual fact a violation of the archival legislation, which did not begin to exempt them formally from control on the part of the Archives Administration until 1963, as stated above.

9 9 specific technical skills and cultural and professional qualifications for possible employment in the cataloguing, description and organisation of supervised historical archives. The possibility of obtaining financial support from the state has also proved conducive to the correct preservation and use of supervised archives. In particular, the archival superintendencies can suggest the direct execution of operations through the proposals of a plan of expenditure submitted annually to the General Directorate of Archives 21, which approves a national plan on the basis of the financial resources available. The owners, possessors or holders of the archives can themselves request state funding for voluntary operations of cataloguing through the Archives Administration. While a ceiling of 50% is normally set for such operations, the state contribution can cover the entire cost in cases of particular importance or involving materials of public use and enjoyment. With a view to obtaining further economic support, the owners of non-state archives can also submit projects to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, backed by recommendations from the archival superintendencies, in such a way as to draw upon the 0.8% IRPEF fund directly managed by the state 22. The regions can provide financial support for projects and operations of description, preservation, restoration, digitisation and promotion of the archives of local bodies and public and private institutions and associations of local interest. Bank foundations constitute a further possible source of funds. The contemporary era is characterised by an authentic documentary revolution reflected primarily in the sudden proliferation of records creators. The state and ecclesiastical institutions, local communities and great families, which produced practically all of the country s archival heritage up to the 19th century, have now been joined by public organisations used by the state to implement policies of control, development and assistance as well as a whole range of private subjects constituting the fabric of contemporary society, including industrial and commercial companies and firms, banks operating in the sector of credit and savings, trade unions, professional associations, political parties, research centres and bodies active in the spheres of culture and welfare, as well as individuals active in the fields of politics, science, culture and art. The multiplication of historical sources serving both to reconstruct the history of their creators and to shed light on many aspects of contemporary society that are insufficiently documented by state records has led to an analogous multiplication of the institutions that preserve documentation and make it accessible to scholars. These generally comprise archives set up by the 21 The Direzione generale per gli Archivi is a central organ of the Ministero dei beni e delle attività culturali e del turismo. Within the framework of the ministry s guidelines, it is responsible for promoting and supervising activities regarding the protection, preservation and utilisation of the national archival heritage. 22 IRPEF is the Italian income tax.

10 10 creators themselves, documentation centres, cultural institutes and foundations, and institutions specialising in the gathering and protection of types of material that require particular knowledge and handling by virtue of their specific nature, such as photographs, films and sound recordings. An important part in the safeguarding and use of sources previously doomed to loss and destruction has been played by new approaches in historiography, which have also fostered the birth of renewed interest on the part of creators in the preservation and promotion of their records. Archival pluralism has received further impetus from the importance of certain historical events in national life, as exemplified by the creation of specific cultural institutions for the protection, preservation and study of sources connected with periods of conflict. Museums and the institutes for the history of the Risorgimento or Italian unification thus came into operation as from halfway through the 19th century, performing celebratory and educational functions in support of the legitimisation of the institutions of the newly founded Kingdom of Italy. The same bodies were then harnessed immediately after the outbreak of the Great War, presented as the last battle for national independence against the traditional enemy of the Austrian Empire. The collection and exhibition of memorabilia and objects salvaged from the battlefields and documentary sources, especially of a personal nature (such as soldiers letters and photographs) served to justify Italy s intervention to a public shocked by the enormous number of victims and the huge sacrifices entailed. Feelings of aversion towards the Resistance developed in the years immediately after the end of World War II, not least as a result of the Cold War climate. The idea was thus born amongst the leading figures involved in the fight against Fascism and Nazi Germany of defending, preserving, studying and making known the history of the partisan movement also through documentary materials. This took concrete shape as from 1949 through the creation of centres for the history of the Resistance, the first example of a private archival network on the national scale. The need and determination to shed light on episodes of recent Italian history still shrouded in mystery led in 2005 to the creation of a network of public and private archives, associations and centres of documentation with the support and collaboration of the Archives Administration. The primary aims of this Rete archivi per non dimenticare ( Network of archives in order not to forget ) are to keep the demand for justice alive and to develop and disseminate historical knowledge of the terrible events that characterized a long period of Italian life, including terrorism, bombings, political violence and organized crime. Its activities thus focus on identifying and making known through a Web portal the sources held by state archives (including those of ministries, courts, prefectures and the police force), private archives and associations of victims families. Finally, the above-mentioned documentary revolution of the contemporary era is reflected by a vast increase not only in the number and nature of the creators

11 11 and repositories of archives but also in the types of documentation. The written word and paper support gradually came to be accompanied by photographs, films and sound recordings in the course of the 20th century. As we have endeavoured to show, a whole variety of archival solutions have been adopted in Italy over the last few decades to address the massive proliferation of documentation and the ever-increasing need to remember, phenomena also stimulated by new interests and methods in the field of historiography. New public and private structures have broadened the national archival system, within which the state archives are gradually losing their central role as the custodians of national memory. This fact bears witness to the weakness of the 19th-century archival model, which is reconfirmed in general terms by the legislation currently in force. The absence of a strong and authoritative centre may, however, make the present-day pluralism not only rich and varied but also uncoordinated and uncontrollable. The true challenge today can thus be seen as finding solutions and forms capable of making the most of the new actors on the national archival stage while avoiding the dangers inherent in a fragmented and chaotic situation; in short, organisational solutions and forms of coordination and cooperation capable of effectively re-establishing the protective function of the state as the only way, in our view, of ensuring the preservation of contemporary sources, their availability on an equal footing to users, and hence democratic access to knowledge 23. Silvia Trani - in 1998 she received her postgraduate qualification as Archivist and Palaeographer (La Sapienza University of Roma, Scuola di specializzazione in beni archivistici e librari) and in 2012 her PhD in Institutions and Archives (Siena University). Lecturer on archival science and institutional history since 2009 on a contract basis at La Sapienza University of Rome and the advanced training school of the Istituto centrale per il restauro e la conservazione del patrimonio archivistico e librario. Author of studies and articles of a historical and archival character published in national and international journals as well as the monographs. 23 For an initial idea of the documentary material held outside the state archives, see Storia d Italia nel secolo ventesimo. Strumenti e fonti, ed. C. Pavone, III, Le fonti documentarie, Ministero per i beni e le attività culturali, Dipartimento per i beni archivistici e librari, Direzione generale per gli Archivi, Rome, 2006 (Pubblicazioni degli archivi di Stato, Saggi, 88, a publication of the Istituto nazionale per la storia del movimento di liberazione in Italia). See also the information system of the archival superintendencies (Sistema informativo unificato per le soprintendenze archivistiche: SIUSA), a primary point of access for research and consultation of the non-state, public and private documentation held outside the state archives, (site visited on 12 June 2014).

12 12 The article was commissioned by the KARTA Center as a part of Project Stabilization of Polish Community Archive ( Warsaw 2014 KARTA Center ul. Narbutta 29, Warsaw Poland ok@karta.org.pl, This text is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 licence (CC BY-SA 4.0). Further details about CC-BY licences are available at: The project is carried out within the program Citizens for Democracy, financed by the EEA Funds.