UM designates Mathieu Segers archive as academic heritage
Maastricht University (UM) has designated the Europa Archive, established under the guidance of Professor Mathieu Segers, as an official part of the university’s academic heritage. In recognition and appreciation of his significant contributions to the university and research on European integration, the archive will be named the Mathieu Segers Europa Archive in his honour.
Segers passed away on 16 December 2023. Together with the Studio Europa Maastricht team, he had been working on the archive since 2018. He carried out his work on behalf of UM at the request of the Province of Limburg. The Province had requested the establishment of an archive to support the European Heritage Label it acquired in 2018 for the Maastricht Treaty. Among other accomplishments, the 1992 treaty laid the groundwork for the establishment of the European Union (EU) and the introduction of the euro.
Special legacies
The Mathieu Segers Europa Archive assembles documents that shed light on the underlying context and creation of the Maastricht Treaty, the EU and the euro. The archive encompasses materials from various institutions, such as scans from the Dutch Foreign Ministry archives, as well as contributions from private estates of individuals who played a crucial role in the history and development of the EU. For instance, the archive includes documents from the estate of Max Kohnstamm (1914-2010), the former secretary of the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).
Personal archives Mathieu Segers
The archive will also house the rich academic legacy of Segers himself. These include the working archives he compiled for his research on the origins of European integration and interviews from the oral history project EU-bouwers aan het woord, of which Segers was one of the editors-in-chief.
Development of the archive
Studio Europa Maastricht will further develop the Mathieu Segers Europa Archive in the coming years, partly in support of the European Heritage Label.
Studio Europa Maastricht
Studio Europa Maastricht is a centre of expertise for Europe-related debate and research. It was established in 2018 and is supported by the partners of the Maastricht, Working on Europe programme: Maastricht University, the Province of Limburg and the City of Maastricht.
Picture: Mathieu Segers during the presentation of the oral history project EU builders speaking at Sociëteit de Witte in The Hague, December 2022.
Opening autumn 2024
The special collection is a unique reference point for researchers, students and others interested in the background of European cooperation and the origins and legacy of the Maastricht Treaty in particular. The opening of the archive, together with the presentation of the first parts of the collection, is planned for the autumn of 2024 at the cultural centre Centre Céramique in Maastricht.
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