Thursday

28th Mar 2024

EU gives free online access to its archives

  • The EU steps up the race with US giant Google in putting books online (Photo: Flickr.com)

The EU on Sunday (18 October) used the book fair in Frankfurt to launch its online digital library of official documents issued in the last 50 years.

The EU's so-called digital bookshop puts more than 12 million scanned pages online, to be downloaded for free by anyone interested. The oldest document is a 1952 speech by Jean Monnet which inaugurated the High Authority of the Coal and Steel Community, later to become the EU.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

"The digital library frees the memory of the European Union tied to paper since its beginning," EU commissioner for multilingualism Leonard Orban said.

"The millions of pages now accessible to everyone in the 23 official languages demonstrate the continued commitment of the European Union to preserve and encourage the history of the Union in its linguistic diversity," he added. Apart from the bloc's 23 official languages, some publications are also available in Chinese, Russian and around 20 other languages.

The equivalent of four kilometres of bookshelves were scanned from February 2008 at a cost of about €2.5 million and will also be included in Europeana, a mammoth project aimed at digitising several national libraries and arts museums all over the EU.

The move comes also amid fierce opposition by European publishers to the free online books project of US giant Google.

Also at the Frankfurt book fair, French publisher Editis announced the development of an online book distribution system.

By creating their own digital bookstore, comments The New York Times, French publishers reckon they might be able to keep Google and Amazon at bay, or at least extract better terms in any French settlement modelled after the proposed US deal.

But apart from the Editis project, big French publishers such as Hachette, Gallimard or Flammarion are developing their own online projects, making it hard to provide a united front against the US company.

How Amazon lobbyists could be banned from EU Parliament

Amazon is one step closer to being banned from the European Parliament after the employment committee complained of a lack of cooperation in recent years — what is the process, and when can a final decision be expected?

EU deal on new gig-workers rules unlikely before June elections

Another provisional agreement on improving working conditions for platform workers fall apart on Friday, as four member states decided not to support it — making the chances of a directive before the June European elections unlikely.

EU agrees less ambitious rules on platform work

A new provisional agreement on the platform workers directive has been reached — but what has changed from the previous deal, and how will it affect the expected reclassification of 5.5 million platform workers as "employees"?

Opinion

Why are the banking lobby afraid of a digital euro?

Europeans deserve a digital euro that transcends the narrow interests of the banking lobby and embodies the promise of a fairer and more competitive monetary and financial landscape.

Latest News

  1. Orban's Fidesz faces low-polling jitters ahead of EU election
  2. German bank freezes account of Jewish peace group
  3. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  4. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  5. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  6. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult
  7. EU unveils plan to create a European cross-border degree
  8. How migrants risk becoming drug addicts along Balkan route

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us