| Platform of European Memory and Conscience | |
|---|---|
| Formation | October 14, 2011 |
| Type | Educational project of the European Union |
| Purpose/focus | Prevent intolerance, extremism, anti-democratic movements and the recurrence of any totalitarian rule in the future; support the activities of institutions engaged in reconciling with totalitarian regimes in Europe |
| Headquarters | Prague |
| Membership | Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes, Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial, Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Archives, House of Terror Museum, Institute of National Remembrance, and others |
| President | Göran Lindblad |
| Managing Director | Neela Winkelmann |
| Parent organization | European Union |
| Website | memoryandconscience.eu |
The Platform of European Memory and Conscience is an educational project of the European Union bringing together government institutions and organisations from EU countries active in research, documentation, awareness raising and education about the crimes of totalitarian regimes. It was founded in Prague on the occasion of the summit of Prime Ministers of the Visegrád Group on 14 October 2011. The signing ceremony took place in the Lichtenstein Palace under the auspices of Czech Prime Minister Petr Nečas, Polish Prime Minister and President of the European Council Donald Tusk, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.[1][2] Its goal is described as helping "prevent intolerance, extremism, anti-democratic movements and the recurrence of any totalitarian rule in the future".[3] The project was originally proposed by the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes and the Government of the Czech Republic, and the 2008 Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism;[4] on 2 April 2009, the European Parliament passed a resolution in favour of the initiative,[5] and in June 2009, the Council of the European Union welcomed the initiative. The Platform of European Memory and Conscience was founded as an initiative of the Polish EU presidency in 2011, after the project had been promoted by the Czech EU presidency already in 2009 and by the Hungarian EU presidency in 2011.[6] The secretariat of the Platform of European Memory and Conscience is hosted by the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes, and the activities of the Platform are funded by the International Visegrád Fund. The founding institutions included government agencies of the Czech Republic, Poland, Germany, Hungary, Romania, Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia.
The elected President of the Platform of European Memory and Conscience is Göran Lindblad (former MP, Sweden, who drafted the Council of Europe resolution 1481). The Executive Board members include Andreja Valič Zver (Study Centre for National Reconciliation, Slovenia), Siegfried Reiprich (Stiftung Sächsische Gedenkstätten, Germany), Paweł Ukielski (Warsaw Rising Museum, Poland), and Zsolt Szilágyi (Head of Cabinet of László Tökés, Vice President of the European Parliament). The Managing Director is Neela Winkelmann (Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes).[7]
Contents |
On 8 April 2008, the Slovenian EU Presidency and the European Commission organised the European Public Hearing on Crimes Committed by Totalitarian Regimes. The hearing called for the establishment of a foundation which would increase "public awareness at the EU level, develop cultual and educational projects and notably provide support to networking of national research institutions specialised in the subject of totalitarian experience, provide support for the European and national research and educational projects."[8]
In June 2008, the international conference European Conscience and Communism was hosted by the Czech Senate Committee on Education, Science, Culture, Human Rights and Petitions. The resulting Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism called for the establishment of an Institute of European Memory and Conscience.
In 2009, Czech EU Presidency and the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes invited all member states to participate in the joint establishment of a Platform of European Memory and Conscience. Following a meeting in Prague in November 2008, representatives of 19 states and 12 partner institutions decided to establish a Working Group on the Platform of European Memory and Conscience, which was coordinated by the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes. As of 2011, the working group included 35 institutions and organisations from 19 European countries. The working group cooperates closely with the Reconciliation of European Histories Group, an all-party group in the European Parliament which is chaired by former European Commissioner Sandra Kalniete.
On 18 March 2009, the Czech EU Presidency hosted the European Public Hearing on European Conscience and Crimes of Totalitarian Communism: 20 Years After, as "the third step towards the establishment of a European Platform of Memory and Conscience to support the activities of institutions engaged in reconciling with totalitarian regimes in Europe."[9]
On 2 April 2009, the European Parliament adopted (553:44:33) a resolution on European conscience and totalitarianism, which called "for the establishment of a Platform of European Memory and Conscience to provide support for networking and cooperation among national research institutes specialising in the subject of totalitarian history, and for the creation of a pan-European documentation centre/memorial for the victims of all totalitarian regimes."[5]
In its 15 June 2009 conclusions, the EU General Affairs and External Relations Council welcomed the initiative to create the Platform of European Memory and Conscience and requested that the European Commission provide financial instruments for the activities.
In February 2010, the Working Group on the Platform of European Memory and Conscience hosted the international conference Crimes of the Communist Regimes in the Czech Senate and the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic under the auspices of Prime Minister Jan Fischer. The conference resulted in the adoption of the Declaration on Crimes of Communism, which called "upon EU member states to increase the awareness raising and education about crimes of communism," and stated that "the creation of the Platform of European Memory and Conscience, as supported by the European Parliament and the EU Council in 2009, must be completed at EU level."[10]
In its 9-10 June 2011 conclusions on the memory of crimes committed by totalitarian regimes in Europe, the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council invited all interested parties to make use of existing EU programmes to establish a Platform of European Memory and Conscience.
The incumbent Polish EU Presidency founded the Platform of European Memory and Conscience with the participation of the governments and government institutions of a number of other EU countries on 14 October 2011. The initial activities of the Platform are funded by the International Visegrád Fund, and the project is coordinated by the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes.
The platform will coordinate the study of the totalitarian past on the European level. According to Daniel Herman, the Director of the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes, one of the first joint projects might be a European history textbook.[6]
When the countries of the former Eastern bloc entered the EU, their totalitarian communist past became a part of the European heritage—Daniel Herman, Prague Daily Monitor