: 
European Union Legal Materials:
An Infrequent User’s Guide*
By Duncan E. Alford[i]
Duncan E. Alford (formerly Head of Reference at the Georgetown University Law Library, Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, D.C.) is Associate Dean for Library and Information Services and Associate Professor of Law at Charlotte School of Law, North Carolina.
Published September 2005
Please, See the Update!
With the admission of ten additional European nations to the European Union in 2004, the EU has become an even more prominent economic power in the world. Mr. Alford’s guide is intended to aid infrequent users of EU materials in locating sources of its law and official documents. This article was first published in the Winter 2005 issue of the Law Library Journal [97 Law Library Journal 49 (Winter 2005)].
Contents
Principal Institutions of the EU
Introductory Treatises and Texts
Convention on the Future of Europe
Official Journal of the European Union
How to Find a Document with a Citation (or Partial Citation)
How to Find EU Legislation by Subject
Council of Ministers Documents
Parliamentary Documents and Reports
Economic and Social Committee Documents
Committee of the Regions Documents
National Implementing Legislation
Official Reports on EU Activities
Recent Articles on EU Legal Research
European Union Depository Libraries
This guide is intended for the researcher who infrequently needs to research European Union (EU) law or related materials or to locate EU official documents. The expert or experienced researcher should consult the research guides listed at the end of this article for more detailed information on EU legal materials.
With the addition of ten new member states in 2004, the EU currently has a population of approximately 450 million people comprising twenty-five European nations.2 The EU gross national product has a value of nearly U.S. $9 trillion, roughly the size of the U.S. economy.3 Because the EU is a major trading partner with the United States, knowledge of EU law will become more widespread as this organization takes a more prominent role in international trade and international affairs generally. Even the law library that does not consider international law a strength of its collection will occasionally have to meet the needs of patrons seeking to locate information on EU law.4
The European Union is a supranational organization whose twenty-five members include most countries of Europe.5 Each member nation is referred to as a Member State. The current twenty-five member states are Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.6
The EU began as the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1953 with an original purpose of regulating the capacity of large metal fabricating industries. The six original member states—Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands—signed the ECSC Treaty7 and began the process of European integration. Since then, the EU has evolved in stages with the creation of an economic community, development of a single market, the removal of many trade restrictions and border controls, and the issuance of a common currency. In recent years, the EU has made efforts to develop a common foreign affairs policy and to improve cooperation among member states on justice and home affairs.
While the press and media refer to the supranational organization as the European Union, the EU itself currently has no separate legal identity. Rather, the EU is composed of two communities that each have a legal identity: the European Atomic Energy Community or Euratom, and the European Community.8 Of the two communities, the European Community is by far the more important.
EU government policy is divided into three pillars which consist of the following:
· Pillar I: the policies underlying the European Coal and Steel Community, the European Community, and Euratom
· Pillar II: common foreign and security policy
· Pillar III: justice and home affairs—judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters, police cooperation, and immigration policy
The principal offices of the EU are located in Brussels, Belgium, although other EU institutions have offices in Luxembourg; Frankfurt, Germany; and Strasbourg, France. The EU currently recognizes twenty-one official languages.9
Europa, the official Web site of the European Union, is the first place to look for EU information because it provides excellent access to official EU documents, especially documents published since 1998. A brief guide to the information sources on Europa is available on the site. Europa contains many databases on various topics, from press releases of the Council of Ministers to tariff quotas. Researchers should consult Europa’s list of databases to familiarize themselves with the sources on the site.
EurLex, the “portal to European law,” is a free legal database maintained by the European Commission that contains the full-text of treaties, legislation, court decisions, and other official documents of the European Union. It is the best free source of official EU legal information. References to EurLex will be frequent throughout this article. The European Commission has redesigned EurLex by incorporating CELEX, the official legal database of the EU, into EurLex as of November 1, 2004. As of January 1, 2005, CELEX is no longer being updated. Researchers should use EurLex for the most current EU legal information.
The following descriptions of the principal institutions of the EU focus on the legal activities and structure of each. The necessarily brief treatment makes this section so simplistic that the descriptions border on being misleading.10 Subsequent sections of this article contain more detailed instructions on legal research related to each institution.
To legal researchers familiar with the United States legal system, Table 1 compares the governmental institutions of the European Union and the United States. This analogy is flawed at the outset because the two legal systems are very different in their age, their legal traditions, and their history, among many other factors. Nevertheless, the table may help the reader begin to understand the relationships of these EU institutions.
Table 1
Comparison of EU and U.S. Governmental Institutions
|
European Union |
United States |
|
Executive Branch |
|
|
European Commission and its Directorates General |
U.S. President and the Cabinet |
|
European Council |
|
|
European Central Bank |
Federal Reserve System |
|
|
|
|
Legislative Branch |
|
|
Council of the European Union (Council of Ministers) |
U.S. Senate |
|
European Parliament |
U.S. House of Representatives |
|
Committee of the Regions |
Congressional committee system |
|
Economic and Social Committee |
Congressional committee system |
|
|
|
|
Judicial Branch |
|
|
European Court of Justice |
Supreme Court of the United States |
|
Court of First Instance |
U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal |
|
Court of Auditors |
General Accountability Office, auditors |
The European Commission is the primary generator of new legislation in the EU. The Commission proposes new legislation and launches new policy initiatives. The Commission also serves as the executive branch of the EU and enters into international agreements on behalf of the EU. As the guardian of EU policy, the Commission can initiate legal proceedings to ensure compliance with EU policy and legislation.11
The Commission currently consists of twenty-five commissioners who are selected by the member states. Each member state may have a national on the commission.12 Each commissioner has a separate portfolio—an area of policy concern. The staff of the commission is organized into thirty-six directorates-general (DG) or departments which have distinct areas of policy responsibility.13 DG’s are roughly equivalent to the executive branch departments in the United States government, such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture. For instance, the Competition DG deals with the approval of mergers and acquisitions of business enterprises. The European Commission is roughly equivalent to the executive branch of the U.S. government, particularly the Office of the President of the United States and the cabinet-level agencies.
Each directorate-general maintains an individual Web site that contains information on the policy area for which it is responsible. Frequently, working papers and preliminary reports prepared by the DG are available on its Web site. Europa provides links to the Web pages of the various commission DG’s.
Consisting of the heads of state (presidents and prime ministers) of EU members, the European Council meets twice a year, usually in January and June. The President of the Council (having a six month term) hosts the council meeting. This body is distinct and separate from the Council of the European Union described below.
The European Central Bank makes and implements monetary policy and is responsible for the issuance of the EU’s common currency—the Euro. Great Britain, Sweden, Denmark, and the ten new member states have not adopted the Euro as their national currency. The European Central Bank is roughly analogous to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in the United States.
The Council of the European Union, also known as the Council of Ministers, is a separate and distinct body from the European Council described earlier. Composed of selected ministers from each member state, the council exercises legislative power along with the European Parliament. The council operates through committees such as the Permanent Representatives Committee (COREPER).16 The Council of Ministers is roughly analogous to the United States Senate.
The European Parliament originally had little political power or authority. As the EU developed, the Parliament gained more power in the legislative process, but it still does not yet have the legislative power typically associated with a national parliament or legislative body.17 The European Parliament is roughly analogous to the United States House of Representatives. However, in the U.S., the House of Representatives and the Senate have equivalent power in enacting most legislation. In the EU, the Council of Ministers generally has greater legislative power than the European Parliament.
This political assembly of 626 members is directly elected by the citizens of the EU member states. The maximum number of European Parliament members will not exceed 732.18 Representation is roughly proportional to the population of the EU member states. Members of the European Parliament are sometimes referred to as MEP’s.
The Parliament has no authority to propose legislation directly, but may request the European Commission to propose legislation. The Parliament must approve most legislation, in particular the annual EU budget, and has withheld its approval in order to influence legislation proposed by the European Commission.19
Created by the Treaty of Maastricht in 1992,20 the Committee of the Regions (COR) is a consultative body composed of 317 members with 317 alternates who serve four year terms. Membership is roughly proportional to the populations of the member states.21 The Council of Ministers appoints members proposed by member states who are generally local, municipal, or regional officials. The COR must be consulted during the legislative process regarding laws affecting trans-European infrastructure, education, culture, environment, or employment, or those having a particular local or regional effect. The COR issues opinions on legislation at the request of other EU institutions or can issue opinions on its own initiative.
The Economic and Social Committee, a consultative body created by the Treaty of Rome,22 issues opinions on legislation dealing with labor, transport, consumer protection, public health, and education.23 Its 317 members are appointed by the Council and the membership is roughly proportional to the populations of the member states. The membership is divided into three equal groups that represent labor unions, professional bodies (accountants, physicians, attorneys, etc.), and consumer groups among others.
The European Court of Justice, consisting of twenty-five judges and eight advocates-general, interprets and adjudicates disputes over EU law, a separate body of law distinct from and supreme over the law of the member states.24 The judges are elected by common accord among the member states25 and serve staggered terms of six years.26 Under the terms of the Treaty of Nice, each member state will have a national serve on the court.27 The eight advocates-general are appointed by common accord and serve six-year terms. The Council of Ministers may increase that number at the request of the court. The ECJ is roughly analogous to the Supreme Court of the United States.
Consisting of twenty-five judges, this intermediate court also decides disputes regarding EU law. This court was created in 1989 to alleviate delays in deciding cases by the Court of Justice because of its increased caseload. The court’s jurisdiction was originally focused on competition cases and staff cases and it did not hear actions brought by member states. The Treaty of Nice expanded the jurisdiction of the Court of First Instance28 and provided that the Court shall have at least one judge from each member state.29 The Court of First Instance is roughly analogous to the United States Courts of Appeal although the Court of First Instance does serve as a trial court on occasion.
Consisting of twenty-five representatives of the member states, the European Court of Auditors audits the accounts and implements the budget of the EU. It issues an annual report, special reports, and opinions.30
While there are numerous books on European Union law, the following is a very selective list of the better introductions to the topic.
· Ralph H. Folsom. European Union Law in a Nutshell. 5th ed. St. Paul, Minn.: West, 2005. This concise treatment, which is part of the West Nutshell series, provides an overview of EU law and institutions.
· Trevor C. Hartley. The Foundations of European Community Law. 5th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. This book is a good introduction to the law of the European Union. Chapter 1 describes the legal basis for and function of the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, and the European Parliament. Chapter 2 describes the structure and function of the EU’s judicial system—the European Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance.
· P.S.R.F. Mathijsen. A Guide to European Union Law. 8th ed. London: Sweet & Maxwell, 2004. A good introduction to EU institutions and EU law.
· P.J.G. Kapteyn. Introduction to the Law of the European Communities: From Maastricht to Amsterdam. 3rd ed. Boston: Kluwer Law International, 1998. A lengthy treatise (despite its title) on EU institutions and law.
· European Union Law Reporter. Chicago: CCH Editions. Formerly known as the Common Market Law Reporter, this multi-volume loose-leaf service provides commentary on EU law by topic and includes the texts of treaties and digests of relevant EU laws. It is updated on a monthly basis.
· Klaus-Dieter Borchardt. The ABC of Community Law. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2000. A brief summary of EU institutions and the sources of European Union law. Also available on EurLex.
The EU is noted for its heavy use of jargon, sometimes called Eurospeak. The following books will help in deciphering unfamiliar terms.
· Anne Ramsay. Eurojargon: A Dictionary of the European Union. 6th ed. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 2000. This book provides an exhaustive list of acronyms used by EU agencies and officials.
· Glossary: Institutions, Policies and Enlargement of the European Union. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2000. This source offers a selective list of terms and concepts related to the EU. An updated version is available on the Web.
· Delegation of the European Union to the United States, A to Z Index of European Union Websites. While technically not a dictionary, this excellent Web-based alphabetical index of EU organizations, agencies, and topics is maintained by the Washington Delegation of the European Commission.
· IDEA, the Electronic Directory of the European Institutions. Maintained by the European Commission, this database provides contact information for senior personnel of the European Union. Searchable by name, agency, or hierarchical structure.
The European Union has developed over the past five decades from the six member European Coal and Steel Community to the current twenty-five member supranational organization through the adoption and ratification of treaties.
The text of the treaties are published in the Official Journal of the European Union, the official gazette of the EU. Other treaty series and commercial publications described below are also sources for the text of the EU treaties.
The founding treaties are frequently referred to as “primary legislation.” In contrast, “secondary legislation” refers to directives, regulations and other forms of law described later in the section on Legislation.
Following is a list of the founding treaties that provide the legal basis for the EU:
· Treaty Establishing the European Coal and Steel Community, Apr. 18, 1951, 261 U.N.T.S. 140 (ECSC Treaty or Treaty of Paris). This treaty expired by its own terms on July 23, 2002.
· Treaty Establishing the European Economic Community, Mar. 25, 1957, 298 U.N.T.S. 3, 4 Eur. Y.B. 412 (EEC Treaty or Treaty of Rome).
· Treaty Establishing the European Atomic Energy Community, Mar. 25, 1957, 298 U.N.T.S. 259, 5 Eur. Y.B. 454 (Euratom Treaty).
· Treaty Establishing a Single Council and a Single Commission of the European Communities, Apr. 8, 1965, 1967 J.O. 152/1 (Merger Treaty).
· Single European Act, Feb. 17, 1986, 1987 O.J. (L 169) 1, 25 I.L.M. 506.
· Treaty on European Union, Feb. 7, 1992, 1992 O.J. (C 191) 1, 31 I.L.M. 253 (Union Treaty or Maastricht Treaty).
· Treaty of Amsterdam Amending the Treaty on European Union, the Treaties Establishing the European Communities and Certain Related Acts, Oct. 2, 1997, 1997 O.J. (C 340) 1, 37 I.L.M. 56 (Treaty of Amsterdam).
· Treaty of Nice Amending the Treaty on European Union, the Treaties Establishing the European Communities and Certain Related Acts, Feb. 26, 2001, 2001 O.J. (C 80) 1 (Treaty of Nice).
Consolidated versions of the treaties incorporating the changes through the Treaty of Nice are available in the Official Journal of the European Union:
· Treaty on European Union, 2002 O.J. (C 325) 5.
· Treaty Establishing the European Community, 2002 O.J. (C 325) 33.
The Treaty of Amsterdam renumbered the articles of the founding treaties. Citations to specific articles of the founding treaties prior to the ratification of the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1997 will be to the old numbering scheme of the treaty articles. For example, the article on the creation of the internal market is cited as Article 14 (ex Art. 7a). The ex number refers to the numerical sequence of the treaty articles prior to the Treaty of Amsterdam. A table of equivalences showing the correspondence between the old and new numbering scheme was published in the Official Journal on October 11, 1997.33
The EU has grown since its founding by admitting additional nations. New members of the EU must sign and ratify an accession treaty in order to join the EU. The five accession treaties (thus far) and their citations are listed below:
· Accession to the European Communities of the Kingdom of Denmark, Ireland, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Jan. 22, 1972, 1972 O.J. (L 73) 5 (First Accession Treaty).
· Accession to the European Communities of the Hellenic Republic, May 28, 1979, 1973 O.J. (L 291) 9 (Second Accession Treaty).
· Accession to the European Economic Communities of the Kingdom of Spain and the Portuguese Republic, June 12, 1985, 1985 O.J. (L 302) 9 (Third Accession Treaty).
· Accession to the European Union of the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Finland, and the Kingdom of Sweden, June 24, 1994, 1994 O.J. (C 241) 9 (Fourth Accession Treaty).
· Treaty concerning the Accession of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia, and the Slovak Republic to the European Union, April 16, 2003, 2003 O.J. (L 236) 33, available online.
Both the founding and accession EU treaties are available in the following electronic databases:
· Westlaw — EU-TREATIES database contains founding treaties since 1951. Some documents are available in PDF format showing an image from the Official Journal.
· LexisNexis — EURCOM; TREATY database contains founding treaties since 1951, derived from the CELEX database.
· CELEX — Legislation File (Sectors 1-4). The official legal database of the EU was previously available by subscription only. Beginning July 1, 2004, CELEX became freely accessible on the Web. However, it is no longer updated after January 1, 2005. EurLex provides access to a portion of the content available on CELEX, but the latter provides content prior to 1998 (unlike EurLex) and allows for advanced searching capabilities. Much of the content of CELEX is available through other databases for a fee, such as Westlaw or LexisNexis, or in various print publications.
· Lawtel EU — Treaties database contains all the EU treaties.
The Office for Official Publications of the European Communities publishes several versions of treaties which are periodically updated:
· European Union: Consolidated Versions of the Treaty on European Union and of the Treaty Establishing the European Community. Luxembourg: Office for the Official Publications of the European Communities, 2003.
· European Union: Selected Instruments Taken From the Treaties. Luxembourg: Office for the Official Publications of the European Communities, 1999.
Copies of the treaties are also available in several commercial publications:
· European Union Law Reporter. London: Sweet & Maxwell, 1962–. The texts of the treaties are contained in the last volume of this four-volume loose-leaf service.
· Neville March Hunnings, ed. Encyclopedia of European Union Law. London: Sweet & Maxwell, 1996–. This six-volume loose-leaf service contains the following types of EU materials: Volume 1, Founding Treaties; Volumes 1 and 2, Accession Treaties; Volumes 2 and 3, Other International Agreements; Volumes 4 and 5, EU Institutions; and Volume 6, the Three Pillars. It is updated on a quarterly basis.
· Philip Raworth, ed. European Union Law Guide. New York: Oceana Publications, 1994–. This loose-leaf service contains the text of the treaties in volume 1 and the text of principal legislation organized by subject in volumes 2 through 6.
· Hans Smit, Peter Herzog, Dennis Campbell, and Susan Cotter, eds. Law of the European Economic Community. New York: LexisNexis Matthew Bender, 1976–. This annually updated loose-leaf service analyzes the treaties article by article. It includes tables relating to the renumbering of treaty articles.
The European Constitutional Convention met in Brussels beginning in 2002 and in June 2003 completed its task of drafting a constitutional treaty34 that was presented to an intergovernmental conference held in fall 2003.35 The heads of state of the EU signed this treaty on October 29, 2004 in Rome.36 The signed version of the treaty is available in full-text on Europa. The ratification process of this treaty by the member states has been suspended after the referendum votes against ratification in France and the Netherlands in May and June 2005.
Five institutions are involved in the EU legislative process: the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, the European 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.37
There are currently four methods for enacting legislation in the EU, listed here in order of importance and in reverse chronological order of their development:
1. Co-decision
2. Cooperation
3. Assent
4. Consultation
The procedure used depends on the substance of the proposed legislation. Co-decision is by far the most important of the four processes because a wide range of policy areas fall under its scope. Co-decision is also the most recently created legislative process (under the Maastricht Treaty and amended by the Treaty of Amsterdam), and of the four methods, provides the most power to the European Parliament, reflecting its growing influence in EU law-making.
Co-decision has become the principal manner by which legislation is adopted in the EU. Under the co-decision procedure, the European Commission, after consulting with national experts, submits a legislative proposal (frequently in the form of a COM document discussed below) to the Council of Ministers which in turn forwards the proposal to the European Parliament.38 The Parliament then considers the legislation by first referring it to a committee that will issue a report. If the Parliament agrees to the proposed text, the legislation is enacted. If the Council and the Parliament cannot agree on the legislation, the legislation potentially can go through three separate readings in Parliament prior to enactment.39
A unique feature of the EU legislative process is the methods of voting in the Council of Ministers: unanimity, simple majority, and qualified majority. Under qualified majority voting (QMV), each member state is assigned votes based roughly on its population. France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom each receive twenty-nine votes. Malta receives the least number with three votes. Legislation is enacted by qualified majority if a majority of the member states approve the legislation and a minimum of 232 votes are cast in favor of the legislation (out of a total of 321 votes). In addition, a member state may ask for confirmation that the votes in favor of the legislation represent at least 65% of the EU’s population. The result of qualified majority voting is that a member state may vote against legislation but must nevertheless abide by its provision— a true cession of sovereign power to the EU.
The other three methods of enacting legislation are used much less frequently. Co-operation is generally used only for legislation dealing with economic and monetary union. Consultation and assent are used to enact legislation dealing with agriculture, trade agreements, and taxation. Because these three methods are infrequently used, I do not include a detailed discussion of the steps in these legislative procedures.40
This complicated legislative process results in one of the four principal types of EU legislation. Regulations are directly applicable to member states and require no further action to have legal effect. Directives 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. Decisions are binding on those parties to whom they are addressed. Recommendations and opinions have no binding force.41 In the eyes of the U.S. legal researcher, regulations are the closest equivalent to federal statutes. These four types of legislation are referred to as “secondary legislation” as opposed to the treaties which are referred to as “primary legislation.”
The Official Journal of the European Union,42 is published daily in Luxembourg by the Office for the Official Publications of the European Communities. It is the EU’s official gazette and publishes the text of legislation and other official acts of the European Union. It contains treaties, all four of the principal types of legislation, working papers, judgments of the European Court of Justice, proposals for legislation, and other official communications between EU institutions. Prior to 1973 when the United Kingdom and Ireland joined the EU, the Official Journal (or the O.J.) was not published in English. It is now published daily in each of the twenty-one official languages of the EU. To the U.S. researcher, the O.J. is a combination of the United States Statutes at Large, the U.S. Treaty Series, the Federal Register, and the Congressional Record.
There are six 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 nonbinding decisions of the EU institutions such as communications of the Commission on various topics, court judgments, and opinions of the Committee of the Regions and the Economic and Social Committee.
· Communications—CE Series contains Commission proposals and is only published electronically, with versions available on EurLex, CELEX, Westlaw, and LexisNexis. A table of contents of the electronic CE series is published in the print C Series. This electronic-only part of the O.J. began in July 1999.
· Communications—CA Series principally contains employment notices for EU institutions.
· Annex-Debates contains verbatim reports of the plenary sessions of the European Parliament. The Annex-Debates ceased publication in print after the May 1999 parliamentary session.
· Supplement—S Series contains notices of invitations to bid on EU funded contracts. This series is available electronically through the TED (tenders) database.
Many EU legislative documents are available in an electronic version, but the EU considers only the print version to be official. The Official Journal is also available in the following electronic databases:
· Europa / EurLex contains journals from January 1, 1998 to present. Some recent documents are in PDF.
· LexisNexis—EURCOM; LEGIS database includes coverage from January 1980 to present.
· Westlaw—EU-LEG database includes coverage from 1952 to present. EU-OJCSERIES provides coverage from 1992 to present. Documents published after 1997 are available in PDF.
· Lawtel EU—Adopted Legislation is complete since 1997 and nearly complete since 1952.
A regulation is generally cited by its number, followed by 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 Official Journal 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. — This directive was enacted in 1977 as Directive Number 780. If you did not have a citation to the Official Journal, but only the year and number, you could locate its text by searching:
• In LexisNexis, the document segment Title with “77/780”
• In Westlaw, the field Title with “77/780”
• In EurLex, use the “Search by document number” screen in the “Legislation” database by inserting the year 1977 and the document number 780.
Consolidated versions of legislation, while not official, are available on EurLex. Consolidated versions of legislation reflect any amendments to the original text. Researchers should update the status of the consolidated legislation or any other EU legislation by checking the latest Directory of Community Legislation in Force or an electronic database to ensure no further amendments have been enacted.
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, both electronic and print, that provide subject access to EU law.
Similar to legal research in the U.S., legal research in European Union law can be done effectively with Westlaw and LexisNexis. In Westlaw, search the database EU-ALL to ensure you search all types of EU documents (directives, orders, treaties, etc.). In LexisNexis, search EURCOM; ECLAW, which is equivalent to EU-ALL in Westlaw. In EurLex, search multiple databases such as the Official Journal, Legislation in Preparation, Legislation, Treaties, and Case Law. The search engine in EurLex is not as sophisticated as the software in Westlaw and Lexis.
SCADPlus is a useful database produced by the EU. It is organized by subject area and provides summaries of EU activity in those areas. There is also an A–Z index of the contents. Another useful EU database is Activities of the European Union, which provides “mini-portals” to information from all EU institutions on thirty policy areas, such as economic and monetary affairs.
EU legislation may be found by subject using the following print sources.
· European Union Law Reporter. London: Sweet & Maxwell, 1962–. Volume 4 provides a useful topical index to an analysis of EU law which contains citations to the Official Journal.
· Directory of Community Legislation in Force and other Acts of the Community Institutions. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 1984–. The first volume of this two-volume 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 based on the text and divisions of the EU treaties in order to search the source efficiently. The second volume contains a subject index and chronological 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 and July 1 and is also available on EurLex. The electronic version contains hypertext links to EU documents, some of which are available in PDF. The print version ceased with the January 1, 2004 issue and it is currently only available electronically.
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 European Commission. COM documents are numbered sequentially each year and are referenced by number and date. COM documents are available in microfiche in some law libraries and in EU depository libraries.
Example: COM (2002) 0018, Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament towards an Integrated European Railway Area. — This report is Commission Document No. 18 published in the year 2002.
COM documents are available in the following electronic databases: EurLex, in both Legislation in Preparation and Documents of Public Interest; Westlaw contains EU Preparatory Acts in EU-ACTS database; LexisNexis contains EU Preparatory Acts in EURCOM; PREP database; Celex, in Preparatory Acts file (Sector 5); and Lawtel EU contains Commission Documents (since 1987, full-text since 2000) and Proposed Legislation (since 1987).
Most of these documents (without the useful explanatory memoranda) were published in the Official Journal C series until June 1999. After June 1999 selected COM documents are available in the electronic Official Journal CE Series on EurLex. Beginning in 2003, the EU ceased publication of COM documents in microfiche format, while providing them on CD-ROM. EurLex or CELEX will be the most readily available (but possibly incomplete) source for recent COM documents.
Prior to 1999, Council of Ministers documents typically were kept confidential.44 Due to provisions in the Treaty of Amsterdam and a general policy of improved transparency in EU decision-making, more Council documents are now being made public. One of the most frequently sought types issued by the Council is the Common Position, a statement of the Council’s position regarding an amendment to legislation by the European Parliament.
Council documents are available through its Public Register searchable database. Coverage begins with January 1999. Some documents are available in full-text. Documents not marked as public may be requested. Types of documents included are:
· Monthly Summaries of Council Acts;
· Council Minutes, which consist of two types—minutes concerning the adoption of the legal acts and general minutes; and
· Press Releases, which are eventually loaded into RAPID, the European Commission’s press release database, but are available first in the Council’s Press Room on its Web site.
As an important institution involved in the legislative process, the European Parliament generates documents such as committee reports and floor debates that are of interest to legal researchers.
The European Parliament has created OEIL, the Legislative Observatory database to track parliamentary action on legislative proposals. It can be searched by multiple criteria such as keywords, document reference, legislation document number, and stage of legislative procedure.
In addition, the European Parliament maintains the following documents on its Web site:
· “Subjects of Current Interest” are covered in a portion of OEIL, the Legislative Observatory database; it organizes proposed legislation by topic and provides links to relevant documents.
·