European Union Documents Online
Advanced Legal Research
Kincaid C. Brown
University of Michigan Law Library
EU Resources on the Law Library Web Site
Primary Legislation: Treaties
Generally treaties are pubished in the Official Journal of the European Communities, C Series (Information & Notices)
Treaties Continued
- Browse access to the founding treaties, amending treaties, and other "essential" documents via Eur-Lex
- Background information and explanation and links to the treaties in Eur-Lex via Europa
- Lexis: EURCOM; TREATY (1979-)
- Westlaw: EU-Treaties (1951-)
Secondary Legislation
There are five types:
- Regulations: Adopted by Council of Ministers, binding on all member states
- Directives: Adopted by Council of Ministers, binding on member states but require national implementing legislation
- Decisions: Issued by Commission or Council of Ministers, binding to whom decisions are addressed (e.g. member states, corporations)
The Council of Ministers is comprised of members of the national governments.
Secondary Legislation Continued
- Recommendations: Adopted by Commission or Council of Ministers, not binding
- Opinions: Issued by Commission, Council of Ministers, or European Parliament committees, not binding but indicate policy
Secondary Legislation Continued
Published in OJ, L Series (Legislation) for enacted legislation, and C Series (Information & Notices) for proposed and draft legislation, communications, and announcements
Secondary Legislation Continued
- Lexis: EURCOM; ECLAW (1953-), EURCOM; LEGIS (1980-) (Commission legislation)
- Westlaw: EU-LEG (1952-), EU-OJCSERIES (1990-)
Proposed Legislation: Com Docs
Commission Documents (Com Docs)
The Commission is independent of the national governments and acts as an executive branch for the EU. It's job is to represent the interests of the EU as a whole.
Commission Documents Continued
Proposed Legislation: Parliamentary Docs
- EU Parliament Web Site: includes documents, debates, and reports.
- Questions from the Parliament addressed to the Commission and Council of Ministers are available in Eur-Lex once they are included in the OJ.
The EU Parliament is comprised of representatives elected by the people of the individual member nations.
Proposed Legislation: Other Documents
Proposed Legislation
You can also search proposed legislation and preparatory documents together in:
- Eur-Lex.
- Westlaw: EU-ACTS (coverage varies by source)
- Lexis: EURCOM; PREP (full-text beginning in 1979)
National Implementation Legislation
Legislation passed by the legislatures of EU member states to meet the mandates of EU Directives.
Caselaw
European Court of Justice and Court of First Instance
- Eur-Lex: access via case number or date lists, or via a search. (Not in pdf)
- You can also browse cases by subject from the search mechanism.
- Courts web site: access via case number (cases prior to 1997 link to Eur-Lex) or search (1997-). (Not in pdf)
- This site also includes a digest and an alphabetical index of case subject matter but both are in French only
The Court of First Instance was created to help with the caseload of the ECJ. It hears specific cases, e.g. cases brought by individuals and companies and cases dealing with competition law. It does not hear cases brought by member states.
Caselaw Continued
- Lexis: EURCOM; ECJ (1954-)
- Westlaw: EU-CS (1954-)
Note: The European Court of Human Rights is not an EU body.
Westlaw Note
You have the ability to search all EU materials together in the EU-ALL database (but coverage varies by source)
The End