"Determined to promote respect for historical truth, the President of the Republic has heard the demands of the university community for easier access to classified archives over fifty years old".

It was in a statement that the Élysée announced on Tuesday March 9 that Emmanuel Macron had decided to facilitate access to public archives prior to 1971 which bear a "secret" stamp.

The press release from @Elysee concerning access to #archives classified as "defense-secret": "Allow the archives services to proceed as of tomorrow with the declassifications of documents covered by National Defense secrecy according to the process known as" carton "".

pic.twitter.com/WHdIgBO1lM

- Stéphanie Trouillard (@Stbslam) March 9, 2021

The Head of State "took the decision to allow the archives to proceed from tomorrow [Wednesday March 10] to declassifications of documents covered by National Defense secrecy [...] up to the files of the year 1970 included ", specified the Élysée in this document.

For several months, the university community had complained about the difficulties of access to these documents.

Several columns had been published by historians, the most recent of which was dated March 9 in Le Figaro and signed by eminent specialists such as Mona Ozouf, or Pierre Nora.

"France is exposed to an unprecedented regression of the opening of its archives concerning its sovereign activities" via @Le_Figaro pic.twitter.com/kzxXwsc8h3

- Archives it unblocks!

(@ArchiCaDebloque) March 9, 2021

However, after the announcements of Emmanuel Macron, these new measures are considered insufficient.

"The press release proves that the President realized that there was a problem, and that there was a gap between what he was asking, namely that historians are working in particular on the archives of the Algerian war, and reality ", notes Thomas Vaisset, secretary of the association of contemporary historians of higher education and research.

"But the solutions that are proposed do not change anything in the daily life of people who want to consult the archives."

Time-consuming declassification

The Élysée thus explained that the archives services will be able to proceed with declassifications of documents covered by the secrecy of National Defense, according to the process known as "cardboard markdown" extending to files from the year 1970 inclusive.

Until now, these declassifications have been done sheet by sheet.

According to the Élysée, this new measure "will be likely to significantly shorten waiting times".

But on the side of specialists, the impact of this decision will actually be quite low.

"The historical service of Defense was already declassifying in boxes until the documents of the year 1954", underlines Thomas Vaisset.

For Céline Guyon, president of the Association of French Archivists, this declassification remains time-consuming anyway.

"You have to keep in mind that this concerns tens of thousands of boxes. The deadlines will always be very long," she explains.

"On the other hand, cardboard markdown does not concern all archival deposits. This procedure can only be implemented by the Defense Historical Service and diplomatic archives. Funds paid by others ministries, especially the national archives, do not come under this simplification procedure, ”she adds.

# IGI1300 Reaction of the associations at the origin of the appeal before the Council of State to the


press

release of March 9, 2021 from the President of the Republic relating to access to “secret” archives

📰Press release: https://t.co / 2dgequJTJO


🗞️Press review: https://t.co/ydQ2Tpqbo4 pic.twitter.com/hlS5Da7iFS

- AAF (@Archivistes_AAF) March 10, 2021

Apply the law of July 2008

For these associations, the president's press release changes nothing at the root of the problem.

According to them, it is above all necessary to apply the law of July 2008, enshrined in the Heritage Code, which allows free consultation of the archives when they relate to events over fifty years old.

But since 2011, the General Secretariat for Defense and National Security (SGDSN) has issued a circular asking to subordinate any communication of documents prior to 1970 and bearing a 'secret' stamp to an administrative procedure known as declassification.

For several years, this measure did not have much effect.

But for several months, the SGDSN has reiterated its strict application.

Faced with this turn of the screw, associations filed in January two appeals to the Council of State.

"The ministerial instruction contradicts the law of the heritage code which explains that the documents which are classified become communicable after fifty years", summarizes Thomas Vaisset.

"We come up against a real dichotomy. On the one hand, the president says that we have to work on the Algerian archives and on the other the SGDSN is locked on all sides".

Towards a new law?

But why such a tightening of access conditions?

"This is the whole question since the legislator had ruled in 2008 by estimating that after fifty years, the sensitivity of defense secrecy was extinct", answers Céline Guyon.

"This ultimately suggests that there are still secrets, while the history of Algeria has been largely written, especially with regard to issues related to torture."

Specialists in contemporary history do not question the need for safeguards to protect the state, but according to them, they already exist: "The 2008 law is very protective. The documents that would make it possible to design , to locate or manufacture weapons of mass destruction are for example incommunicable, as well as all that concerns the intelligence agents in the special services ", specifies Thomas Vaisset.

"But as for the rest, the SGDSN has never clearly explained what it fears."

For these associations, it is not always easy to decide between what must remain secret and what is not or no longer.

"The border between the defense secret which is legitimate and the protection of a secret which embarrasses the State is quickly crossed", worries Thomas Vaisset.

In its press release, the Élysée Palace also announced that "the government has initiated legislative work to adjust the point of consistency between the heritage code and the penal code".

Even if they welcome the taking into account of a legal problem, the associations are not completely reassured.

"We have for the moment no information concerning the modifications which will be made to the law. This could even lead to a regression in the right of access to the archives with an extension of the deadlines", insists Céline Guyon.

For the president of the Association of French Archivists, this debate has in any case the merit of highlighting a fundamental aspect of our democracy: "It is really a citizen issue that concerns us all. The right of access to archives echoes the declaration of human and citizen rights. We can all hold the administration to account and the archives are kept in this sense ".

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