ARTHUR W. DIAMOND LAW LIBRARY
Research Guide: European Union Legal Materials

Written by Duncan Alford. Updated by Karin Johnsrud. 
Last Updated January 30, 2008

The European Union is a supranational organization whose members include most countries in Europe (referred to as Member States). Switzerland and Norway are NOT members of the European Union.

The EU began as the European Steel and Coal Community in 1953 with the intent to regulate the capacity of large metal fabricating industries. The six original Member States - Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands - signed the ESCC Treaty and began the process of European integration. Since then, the EU has developed in stages with the creation of an economic community, development of a single market and the removal of many trade restrictions and border controls. In recent years, the EU has developed a common foreign affairs policy and improved cooperation among Member States on justice and home affairs. Currently, the EU is made up of two communities - the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) and the European Community (EC).

EU government policy is divided into three "pillars" which consist of the following:

Currently there are 27 Member States of the EU:

The principal offices of the EU are located in Brussels, Belgium, although other EU institutions have offices in Luxembourg; Frankfurt, Germany; and Strasbourg, France.

Enlargement Newsletter
This is a weekly online newsletter relating to the progress of enlargement.

R. Langeuiesche, and A. Toth (eds.), The Unity of Europe: Political, Economic and Social Aspects of EU Enlargement. (2001)
JX 1982 Un4 2001 2^nd Floor
This book provides an introduction to the EU enlargement process. It was produced following the 2000 joint conference of the European Trade Union Confederation and the European Trade Union Institute. There are transcripts of the speeches made at the conference relating to the political, economic and social factors involved in enlarging the EU.

Enlargement Strategy Paper: Report on progress towards accession by each of the candidate countries. (2001)
JX 1981 B872 2000/3 2^nd Floor
The report from the European Commission gives a broad overview of the reasons for enlargement and the strategies involved in accession. It also provides a look at where each candidate country was in the accession process as of 2000. Although the information regarding the countries is not current, this is still an interesting resource because it shows what the countries were doing to prepare themselves for membership in the EU, as well as what the EU was seeking from prospective members.

Adapting the Institutions to Make a Success of Enlargement: Commission Opinion. (2000)
JX 1981 B872 2000/2 2^nd Floor
This commission opinion presents a strategy for adapting the EU institutions as enlargement progresses. It analyzes how the institutions currently operate and suggests possible options for their development and evolution as a result of the 2004 enlargement.

C. Ross, Perspectives on the Enlargement of the European Union. (2002)
JX 1981 P432 2002 2^nd Floor
This volume is a compilation of articles relating to the enlargement of the EU. Its purpose is to provide a historical account of the enlargement process and to analyze the current status of and future developments in the accession countries. There are chapters relating to region-wide issues and others which provide more in-depth looks at individual countries.

N. Nugent (ed.), European Union Enlargement. (2004)
JX1982 Eu7419 2004 2^nd Floor
This book addresses the question of how the 2004 enlargement would impact the European Union as a whole. It reviews the historical development of the different enlargements of the EU and places the 2004 enlargement within the larger context. Chapters in the book look at the key social, political, economic and external issues relating to enlargement and the EU.

EURO

On January 1, 1999, the European Union implemented the Euro as a single economic unit and on January 1, 2002, paper and coin Euros came into circulation. Fitteen of the 27 current EU members had adopted the Euro as their official currency and are part of the "Euro Area". This includes Slovenia, Cyprus and Malta, three of the countries which joined the EU in 2004. The rest of the new EU countries are "Member States with derogation", which means they are working toward the adoption of the Euro. There are variable timetables for the implementation of the Euro within these countries.The United Kingdom and Denmark opted out of the Euro. Originally, Sweden had also opted out of the Euro, but it is now considered a "Member State with derogation", although a timeframe has not been established for adoption.

Resources Related to the Constitution for the EU

Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe was published in the Official Journal of the European Union. The citation is O.J. 2004 (C 310) 1 and it is available on the Europa website.

Factsheet on the European Constitution
Produced by the Council of the European Union, this factsheet briefly summarizes the main points and purposes of the Constitution.

EU Constitution: State of Play
Article available on the Human and Constitutional Rights Resource Page. It provides a discussion of the reasons for establishing a constitution for the EU.

B. Smith, Constitution Building in the European Union. (2002)
JX1982.L3 Sm52 2002 2^nd Floor
This book discusses the status, structure and reasons for the Intergovernmental Conferences (IGC) held by the European Union. There is specific focus on the constitutional IGCs that are being used for the purpose of developing a constitution of the EU. It presents a historical background of IGCs dating from the 1950s and also explores the reasons for the recently increased occurrence of the IGCs.

C Church and D. Phinnemore, Understanding the European Constitution: An introduction to the EU Constitutional Treaty. (2006)
KJE 4445 .C49 2006 4^th Floor 
Tthis book provides analysis of the main features of the European Constitution. The focus is on Part I of the Constitution, but it also briefly introduces materials realated to the other parts of the document. There is discussion of the history and development of the constitution and a look at the ratification process.

A. Albi and J. Ziller (eds.), The European Constitutions and National Constitutions: Ratification and Beyond. (2007)
KJE 4445 .E9695 2007 4^th Floor
This book looks at the ratification process of the European Constitution in each member state. The materials are presented first for the countries that have approved the constitution, then the two where ratification failed and lastly the countires in which the ratification process is on hold pending decisions by the EU on the future of the constitution. The analysis addresses the question of how the European Constitution has impacted the national constitution within the countries.

Five EU institutions are involved in the legislative process: the Commission , the Council of the European Union , the Parliament , the Committee of the Regions , and the Economic and Social Committee . The Commission, the Council and the Parliament are primarily involved in enacting legislation. The Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions serve in a consultative role.

There are four methods for enacting legislation in the EU (listed below in order of importance):

Co-decision has become the principal manner by which legislation is adopted in the EU. On Lawtel, About the EU Legislative Process includes a brief description of the EU procedures for passing legislation and provides a diagram of the co-decision procedure, since it is the most common legislative process. For details on the co-decision procedure, one can go to the European Commission's Co-decision page or review the Co-Decision Guide produced by the staff of the Council of the European Union.

There are four types of EU legislation:

1. Regulations, which are directly applicable to Member States and require no further action to have legal effect.
2. Directives, which are addressed to and are binding on Member States, but the Member State may choose the method by which to implement the directive. Generally, a member state must enact national legislation to comply with a directive.
3. Decisions, which are binding on those parties to whom they are addressed.
4. Recommendations and Opinions, which have no binding force.

The Official Journal (O.J.) of the European Union publishes the text of legislation and other official acts of the European Union. It contains treaties, all four types of legislation mentioned above, working papers, judgments of the European Court of Justice, proposals for legislation, and other official communications between EU institutions. Prior to 2003, this publication was called the Official Journal of the European Communities. Before 1973 when the United Kingdom and Ireland joined the EU, the O.J. was not published in English. Currently, the O.J. is published daily in all the official languages of the EU. To the U.S. researcher, the O.J. is a combination of the Statutes at Large, the U.S. Treaty series, the Code of Federal Regulations, the Federal Register and the Congressional Record.

There are five components to the Official Journal:

• Legislation - L Series contains regulations and directives adopted by the Commission or the Council alone or jointly with the European Parliament. Prior to 1968, the Official Journal was not divided into the L and C series.
• Communications - C Series contains non-binding decisions of the EU institutions such as communications of the Commission on various topics, Court judgments, opinions of the Committee of the Regions or the Economic and Social Council.
• Communications - CE Series contains Commission proposals since July 1999. It is only available in an electronic version on EurLex, Westlaw, or Lexis. A table of contents of the electronic CE series is published in the C Series.
• Annex-Debates contains verbatim reports of the plenary sessions of the European Parliament. The Annex-Debates ceased publication after the May 1999 parliamentary session.
• Supplement - S Series contains notices of invitations to bid on EU funded contracts.

Many EU legislative documents are available in an electronic version, but the EU considers only the print version to be official.

The Arthur W. Diamond Law Library owns all the components of the Official Journal:

Official Journal of the European Union: Legislation (L Series)
JX1984.E1 J81021 2^nd Floor
Holdings 2003 - present
Recent issues are in 3^rd Floor Reserve
JX1984 .E1 J8101 2^nd Floor
Holdings 1973-2003
JX 1984 .E1 J8 2^nd Floor
Holdings prior to 1973 - only in French

Official Journal of the European Union: Information and Notices (C Series)
JX1984.E1 J8100 2^nd Floor
Holdings 2003 - present
Recent issues are in 3^rd Floor Reserve
JX1984 .E1 J81 2^nd Floor
Holdings 1973 - 2003

Official Journal of the European Union: Index
JX1984.E1 J816 2^nd Floor
Holdings 2003 - present
JX1984 .E1 J815 2^nd Floor
Holdings 1980-2003
Subject and Name Indexes

Official Journal of the European Communities: Annexes - Debates of the European Parliament
JX1984 .E12 D31 2^nd Floor
Holdings 1973-1993
Ceased publication in print in 1999
JX1984 .E12 D31 2^nd Floor microfiche
Holdings 1994-1996

Official Journal Special Edition
JX1984.E1 J82 2^nd Floor
In 1973, most EU legislation then in effect was translated into English.

Official Journal CE Series
Beginning in July 1999, major European Commission proposals are available in the CE Series. The full text of the CE Series is available on EurLex, Westlaw, and Lexis. A table of contents of each CE issue is published in the print version of the C series.

The Official Journal is also available in electronic form in the following databases:

EurLex
Journals from January 1, 1998 forward are available on the Web. Some recent documents are in PDF.

LexisNexis - EURCOM; LEGIS
Coverage from 1952 to present.

Westlaw
L Series - EU-LEG Coverage from 1952 to present 
C Series - EU-OJCSERIES Coverage from 1992 to present
Documents published after 1997 are available in PDF

A regulation is generally cited by its number, then its year. In contrast, a directive is cited by its year first, then its number.

Example: Council Regulation No. 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters, 2001 O.J. (L 12) 1.

This Regulation is in the L Series of the OJ in the 2001 volume containing issue 12 for that year at page 1.

Example: First Council Directive 77/780 on the coordination of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the taking up and pursuit of the business of credit institutions, 1977 O.J. (L 322) 30.

Assuming you do not have a citation to the Official Journal, but only the year and number, search:

• In LexisNexis, the document segment Title with "77/780"
• In Westlaw, the field Title with "77/780"
• In EurLex, search the Legislation database by Document Number
• In Lawtel, search the Adopted Legislation or Proposed Legislation databases by Document Number

The Chronological Index of Volume II of the Directory of Community Legislation in Force ("CLIF" located in 3 ^rd Floor Reference JX1981 .R261) can also help find an OJ citation to an EU official document. In the Chronological Index, documents are organized by document sector, by year and then by CELEX number. By cross-referencing to Volume I of CLIF, you can locate the specific OJ citation.

CELEX is the official database of documents used by EU officials and available to others by subscription. Each document in the CELEX database is assigned a unique CELEX number. See the section entitled "Information for Readers" at the beginning of Volume II of CLIF for more information on interpreting CELEX numbers. Because the EU databases on Westlaw and LexisNexis are derived from CELEX, the Arthur W. Diamond Law Library does not subscribe to CELEX.

To find documents by CELEX number, search

• In Westlaw in the Field Restriction called "Celex-number" or use the field name CLX

Note: A Celex number is normally a series of 10 alphanumeric symbols. In Westlaw, the Celex number does not contain the first two digits of the year of publication ("19" or "20") and therefore consists of 8 symbols.

Example: Celex number is 41987D0597. In Westlaw, use 487D0597.

• In LexisNexis in the Document Segment called "DOC-NUMBER" and use the complete 10 symbol CELEX number.

• In Lawtel, in any of the databases, search by entering the full 10 symbol CELEX number in the text box.

Frequently, you will want to find EU legislation on a particular legal topic. Unlike the federal statutes in the United States, there is no official codification of EU legislation. However, there are several sources that provide subject access to EU law. Searching electronic databases such as Westlaw and Lexis may be "easier," but a search of print sources frequently is more effective and efficient.

Similar to legal research in the U.S., legal research in European Union law can be done effectively with Westlaw and Lexis. Lawtel is also available for EU legislative research.

• In Lawtel, one has the the ability to focus the search to proposed or adopted legislation. It is also possible to search press releases, background information and notices from the EU legislative bodies.

• In Westlaw, search the database EU-ALL to ensure you search all types of EU documents (directives, orders, treaties, etc.).

• In Lexis, search EURCOM; ECLAW, which is equivalent to EU-ALL.

• In EurLex , search multiple databases such as the OJ, Legislation in Preparation, Legislation, Treaties, and Case Law. Europa generally does not include pre-1997 documents and its search engine is not as sophisticated as the searching software in Westlaw and Lexis.

SCADPlus
This web page provides summaries of EU activities, organized by subject area. The page is organized to allow multiple serch strategies. It is possible to choose a broad subject and review the summary Keyword searching is also available and there is an A-Z Index of the contents.

Directory of Community Legislation in Force
Available on Eurlex, this database includes legislation classified according to the Directory of Community legislation. Legislation is organized into 20 chapters based on subject.The electronic version contains hypertext links to EU documents. Some are available in PDF.

Directory of Communities Legislation in Force and other Acts of the Community Institutions
JX1981 .R261  3^rd Floor Reference
The first volume of this set organizes legislation within the analytical structure of EU law used by the European Commission. The table of contents sets out the various subject areas. Within each subject area is listed EU legislation related to that subject area. This source is difficult to use because the researcher must be familiar with the analytical structure which is based on the text and divisions of the EU treaties in order to search the source efficiently.
The second volume contains a subject index with cross-references to the relevant page in the analytical structure set forth in volume 1.
This set is updated twice each year on January 1 ^st and July 1 ^st .

European Union Law Reporter
JX1984 .E6 C74 2^nd Floor
This loose-leaf service published by CCH was mentioned earlier under Introductory Texts and Treaties. Vol. 4 contains a useful topical index to an analysis of EU law which contains citations to the Official Journal.

Commission Documents, also known as COM documents, include legislative proposals, communications and reports such as "green papers" or "white papers" issued by the staff of the Commission. COM documents are numbered sequentially each year and are referenced by number and date.

Example: COM (2002) 0018, Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament towards an Integrated European Railway Area

COM documents are available in microfiche:

Documents
JX1984.E1 C7371 2^nd Floor Microfiche
The Diamond Law Library owns documents from 1992 forward.

COM documents are available in the following electronic databases:

• EurLex -Prepartory Acts
• Westlaw: EU Preparatory Acts EU-ACTS
• Lexis: EC Preparatory Acts EURCOM; PREP

Most of these documents (without the useful explanatory memorandum) were published in the OJ C series until June 1999. After June 1999 selected COM documents are available in the electronic Official Journal CE series on EurLex.

Prior to 1999, Council documents typically were kept confidential. Due to provisions in the Treaty of Amsterdam and a general policy of transparency in EU decision-making, more Council documents are being made public.

A Register of Council Documents is available online since January 1999. The register is searchable and some documents are available full-text.

Monthly Summaries of Council Acts have been prepared by the General Secretariat of the Council since January 1999.

As part of the legislative process, the European Parliament generates documents such as committee reports and floor debates that are of interest to legal researchers.

OEIL the Legislative Observatory
The European Parliament has created a database that tracks parliamentary action on legislative proposals. The database can be searched by multiple criteria such as keywords, stage of legislative procedure, etc. An index of legislative action by subject is also available.

Debates of the European Parliament
Debates of the European Parliment are located in a searchable database at the European Parliament's web site.
An Index to the Debates and Texts Adopted for 1984-1999 is available on the European Parliment's website.

Official Journal of the European Communities: Annexes - Debates of the European Parliament
JX1984 .E12 D31 2^nd Floor
Ceased publication in print in 1999
 JX1984 .E12 D31 2^nd Floor microfiche
Post-1999 debates are available in microfiche

Reports of the European Parliament
EuroParl provides a searchable database of reports. A parliamentary report is assigned a document number that typically begins with PE DOC A ______.

Example: PE DOC A4-0485/98, Report on the Communication from the Commission on the Information Strategy for the Euro.

Session Documents / Working Documents - contain committee reports, communications from Parliament
Session Documents are divided into three series:

• A Series contains committee reports which are referred to by document number such as PE DOC A ____.
• B Series contains motions tabled by MEP's and other material related to plenary sessions of the Parliament.
• C Series contains Commission proposals for legislation (COM documents referred to above) that are renumbered with European Parliament document numbers.

Session Documents
JX1984.E12 Se74 2^nd Floor Microfiche
Holdings from 1995 - 1996
JX1984.E12 Se74 2^nd Floor
Holdings from 1987 - 1994

Working Documents [Session Documents]
JX1984.E12 W891 2^nd Floor
Holdings from 1973 - 1987

Documents de Séance [Session Documents]
JX1984.E12 D5 2^nd Floor
Holdings from 1958 - 1973 (in French)

Parliamentary documents after 1996 are available on Europarl.

Parliamentary Questions
Members of the European Parliament regularly question European Commissioners on EU policy. The European Parliment provides a searchable database of these parlimentary questions and responses.

Parliamentary Questions are also available in the OJ C Series through 1999.

On Lexis, in database EURCOM; PARLQ (since 1964)
On Westlaw, in database EU-QUESTIONS (since 1993)

Many documents are available on their official web site

Annual Report
JX1984 .E13 An8 2^nd Floor
Holdings 1973 - 1983

Bulletin
JX1984 .E13 B82 2^nd Floor
Holdings 1973 - present
JX1984 .E13 B8 (in French) 2^nd Floor
Holdings 1961-1972

The official web site contains searchable databases of opinions and resolutions of the Committee. Press releases and the Committee's recent Activity Reports are also available.

To verify the status of proposed legislation or to learn more about the steps in the enactment of a particular legislative proposal, the following two databases are useful.

PreLex
PreLex is a database maintained by the European Commission that collects the documents issued at each step of the legislative process. it is searchable by keyword, document number, citation, etc. and includes hypertext links to relevant documents.

OEIL, the Legislative Observatory
Maintained by the European Parliament, OEIL provides a synopsis of legislative procedures taken in enacting legislation. Searchable by document number, title of document and other means.

Directory of Communities Legislation in Force and other Acts of the Community Institutions
JX1981 .R261 3^rd Floor Reference
The first volume of this set organizes legislation within the analytical structure of EU law used by the European Commission. The table of contents sets out the various subject areas. Within each subject area is listed EU legislation related to that subject area. This source is difficult to use because the researcher must be familiar with the analytical structure which is based on the text and divisions of the EU treaties in order to search the source efficiently.
The second volume contains a subject index with cross-references to the relevant page in the analytical structure set forth in volume 1.
This set is updated twice each year on January 1 ^st and July 1 ^st .

The Directory of Communities Legislation in Force is also available on EurLex. The electronic version contains hypertext links to EU documents. Some are available in PDF.

RAPID
RAPID is a searchable database of press releases by various EU institutions. Frequently, press releases are the quickest and easiest way to learn of new developments in EU law.

As mentioned above, there are four principal types of EU legislation. While regulations are directly applicable to member states, directives require legislative action on the part of each member country. National implementing legislation must be enacted to enforce the objective of a directive.

In order to determine if national legislation has been enacted in response to EU legislation, the researcher has several aids.

Eurlex
In Eurlex, click on "bibliographic notice" for a directive. In this section, click on "Display National Implementing Measures" to display a list of national laws implementing the directive.

Secretariat-General: Application of Community Law
The application of community law is gathered in reports on this website. It includes sections on a Calendar for transposition of Directives; Progress in notification of national measures implementing directives; Infringements; and State Aids.

ScadPlus
Includes information on implementing information, organized by topic.

Westlaw and Lexis
In both Westlaw and Lexis, there is a section at the end of each directive entitled "Implementation." In that section are listed the national laws that were enacted in response to that particular piece of legislation. 

National Provisions Implementing Directives - EURCOM; NATPRV
This LexisNexis database contains summaries of citations to national legislation passed in response to EU laws. Coverage is from 1989 to current.

Commercial Laws of Europe (Sweet & Maxwell)
Comp 600.2 C73 Cellar
Originally, this was a monthly publication of the important national legislation passed in Western Europe, including national legislation implementing EU directives and English translations of selected statutes. Beginning in 1990, the Commercial Laws of Europe became a yearly compilation. As part of the table of contents, volumes of this text include "E.C. Legislation Implemented", which chronologically lists the directive numbers and information relating to the tilte of the title of the national legislation and the member country. 

Created by the Treaty of Rome, the European Court of Justice interprets and applies European Union law as found in the EU treaties and legislation. The founding treaties state that the Court "shall ensure that in the interpretation and application of this Treaty the law is observed." The court sits in Luxembourg and the working language of the court is French. A case may be brought in any of the official languages of the EU and one language will be designated the language of the case (generally the language of the national court referring the case). English did not become an official EU language until the United Kingdom joined the EU in 1973. The European Court of Justice is separate and distinct from the European Court of Human Rights of the Council of Europe.

The ECJ has broad jurisdiction in EU matters and its decisions have the force of law in the Member States of the EU. Decisions of the ECJ can override national legislation and decisions of national courts that are deemed contrary to the provisions of EU treaties and legislation.

The Court of First Instance , created in 1989 to relieve the case load of the ECJ, principally hears cases dealing with competition law, dumping, subsidies and staff grievances. Decisions of the Court of First Instance are appealable to the European Court of Justice.

CURIA
Curia is the official website for the European Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance. It provides a description of the institutions and their history and composition. It also provides access to the decisions of both courts.
On Curia's main page there is a Guide for Users which explains the search methods available for case law. The Case Law page provides access to the search forms and chronological lists of the cases decides by both the European Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance.
Decisions since June 1997are available on the Web and full text searching is possible for both courts.
Decisions are available by case number since the European Court of Justice's inception in 1953. After 1989, case numbers for the European Court of Justice begin with "C-".
Decisions of the Court of First Instance are available by case number since the Court's inception in 1989. Case numbers for the Court of First Instance begin with "T-".

Reports of Cases before the Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance
(commonly known as the European Court Reports or ECR)
JX1984 .E3 R32 2^nd Floor
Holdings: 1954 to present
Latest opinions are located in 3^rd Floor Reserve
Official reporter of cases before the Court of Justice of the European Union. The ECR is divided into three sections: I refers to decisions from the European Court of Justice; II refers to decisions from the Court of First Instance; III refers to staff cases.
Publication of decisions in this reporter is frequently delayed by 18 months or longer due to the need to translate them in to all the official languages of the EU.

Slip opinions of the European Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance are available in the Arthur W. Diamond Law Library.
Court of Justice - JX1984.E3 C8351 3^rd Floor Reserve
Court of First Instance - JX1984.E3 C83505 3^rd Floor Reserve

Proceedings of the Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance of the European Communities
Available on CURIA,  this weekly publication contains summaries of judgments, opinions of the Advocates-General as well as listings of new cases to be brought before the Court.

Annual Report: Synopsis of the Work of the Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance of the European Communitites
JX1984.E3 R299 2^nd Floor
This resource provides information of the activities of the Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance. There are summaries of the cases heard, information of the current judges and changes in the membership over