Library

Cite-Checkers Guide: European Union

 

If you don't find what you need here, consult the longer guide European Union Research.

TREATIES 

As a general rule, the basic Treaties are published in the Official Journal, C Series. Regarding the renumbering of Treaties, see the notes of the European Court of Justice on citation (click on Information) and also 1997 O.J. (C 340) 85.

  • ESCS or Paris Treaty: Treaty Establishing the European Coal and Steel Community, 18 April 1951, 261 U.N.T.S. 140. Expired 23 July 2002.

  • EEC or Treaty of Rome: Treaty Establishing the European Economic Community, 25 March 1957, 298 U.N.T.S. 3.

  • EAEC or EURATOM Treaty: Treaty Establishing the European Atomic Energy Community, 25 March 1957, 298 U.N.T.S. 167.

  • Merger Treaty: Treaty Establishing a Single Council and a Single Commission of the European Communities, 8 April 1965, 1967 J.O. 152/1 (in French).

  • SEA: Single European Act, 17 February 1986, 1987 O.J. (L 169) 1, 25 I.L.M. 506 (an act modifying the basic treaties).

  • TEU or Maastricht Treaty: Treaty on European Union (EU), 7 February 1992, 1992 O.J. (C 191) 1, 31 I.L.M. 253.

  • Treaty of Amsterdam, 2 October 1997, 1997 O.J. (C 340) 1, 37 I.L.M. 56. Explanatory material, text and information on ratification.
  • Treaty of Nice amending the TEU, the Treaties establishing the European Communities and certain related acts, 26 February 2001 O.J. (C 80) 1. Entered into force 1 February 2003. Text, ratification table, explanation, archive of ICG 2000 documents
  • Draft Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe, Brussels, 18 July 2003, adopted by consensus by the European Convention on 13 June and 10 July 2003. 2003 O.J. (C169). 

  • Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe  Rome, October 29, 2004, O.J. (C 310) 1, December 16, 2004. The website includes the full text, plus information about the treaty and the status of ratification and referendum. According to Art. IV-447, the Treaty will enter into force on November 1, 2006, provided all instruments of ratification have been deposited, or if not, then on the first day of the second month following the deposit of the instrument of ratification by the last signatory State to do so.

Other sources for the Treaties

  • EUR-LEX - Treaties

  • Selected Instruments
  •  Reserve KJE444.23 .E8735 1999

  • European Union Law Reporter, vol. 4
    Reserve NYUL KE-E1 C63 C6

Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, proclaimed by the Commission, 7 December 2000. Proclamation and text, 2000 O.J. (C 364) 1. Council website on the Charter  - Fundamental Rights

Parliament website on the Charter
Part II of the Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe incorporates the Charter into the new Constitution.

OFFICIAL JOURNAL (legislation: directives, regulations, etc.)
Examples
Where to find the O.J.
Finding legislation by number, e.g., Dir. 128/96
Finding legislation by topic
National implementing measures for directives

Examples:

  • 1990 O.J. (L352) 1 indicates 1990 L Series issue 352, at p.1.
  • 2000 O.J. (C371) 2 indicates 2000 C Series issue 371, at p. 2.
  • 1965-1966 O.J. Spec. Ed. 265 indicates Special (English) Edition for 1965-66, at p. 265.

Where to find the O.J.

  • Official version 1973 to present
    Official Journal of the European Union,  (English edition)
    Former title (until February 1, 2003): Official Journal of the European Communities
    Paper:  Rubin (unbound on Reserve)  KJE908 .J6
    Microfiche through 2005:  Media Center Cabinet A
          
  • 1952-72 Special Edition (binding acts) and Special Edition, Second Series (non-binding acts) English translation of acts adopted prior to UK accession
    Microfiche:  Media Center Cabinet A
          
  • Journal officiel des Communautés Européennes (French), 1952-76 The French text is the official source for the period before the official English edition began in 1973 with UK accession.
    Microfiche:  Media Center Cabinet A
          
  • Online:  NOTE: The OJ C-E Series is electronic only.

    PDF Jan. 1, 1998 to present-
    EUR-LEX  - Official Journal

    Pre-1998 legislation/Official Journal in EUR-LEX, choose:
    >Official Journal>Access by year>other years
    >Simple Search>by publication reference>Official Journal reference
    >use another search option such as >Simple Search>keywords >Legislation in force.

    WESTLAW  (not PDF)
    EU-LEG, 1952-
    EU-OJCSERIES

    LexisNexis (not PDF)
    EURCOM; ECLAW, 1953-
    EURCOM;LEGIS, July 1979-

Finding legislation by number, e.g., Dir. 128/96

  • EUR-LEX - Simple Search>Legislation. Search by document type and number.
  • Volume C, Community Secondary Legislation, of Encyclopedia of European Community Law. Numerical tables in the first volume and numerical checklists in last volume. Reserve  NYUL KE-E4 7E53
  • European Union Law Reporter. Numerical Finding List in volume 4. Reserve  NYUL KE-E1 C63 C6
  • WESTLAW
    EU-LEG, 1952- (not PDF)
    E.g., to find Directive 91/250 , search title field or DN (document number) field with the act number, DN(91/250).
  • LexisNexis
    EURCOM; ECLAW, 1953-
    EURCOM;LEGIS, July 1979-
    Get a Document:  2000 oj L 114

Finding legislation by topic:

  • Read books and articles on your topic and note citations to legislative acts.
  • Directory of Community Legislation in Force
    EUR-LEX  - Legislation in Force.
  • WESTLAW   EU-LEG, 1952-.
  • European Union Law Reporter. Subject index in vol. 4.
    Reserve  NYUL KE-E1 C63 C6

National implementing measure for directives. The following sources may provide citations to (but not the text of) the national implementing measures:

  • WESTLAW   EU-LEG, 1952-  
    "Countries (National Measures)" following a directive is a list of citations to any national implementing measures.
  • LexisNexis  EUROPE;NATPRV, 1989-. 
  • Celex  EUR-LEX  - Celex. In the Bibliographic Notice for a directive, click on "Display the National Implementing Measures" for a list of national laws. Note: For now, the citations of national measures do not appear in the new EUR-Lex, only in the original Celex, which is up-to-date only through December 31, 2004. The data is in the process of being constructed on the new EUR-Lex site.
  • Commercial Laws of Europe.  London:  European Law Center, 1978-.
    Selected texts of recent laws in English translation. Lists recently adopted legislation by topic and by directive number. B1Stacks (unbound on Reserve) KG2 C45 1C66
  • SCAD Plus  Summaries of the Union's Legislation. May include citations to national implementing legislation.

COM DOCUMENTS print legislative proposals with an explanatory memorandum. Green papers, white papers and other communications and reports issued by the Commission may also be printed as COM documents.

Citation: COM (96) 344 (final) indicates the final version of COM number 344 for 1996.

Where to find the COM Documents by number and by topic:

  • Paper, 1980-April 2003
    Rubin (unbound on Reserve)  NYUL KE-E7 1D62
  • The law library does not currently receive the COM documents in paper. Instead, use EUR-LEX  - Preparatory Acts, for legislative proposals, and see also Reports, Green Papers, White Papers below.
  • Microfiche, 1974-87, Room B5 Cabinets B and C
  • From July 1999, but only through those COM documents dated 2002, the O.J. C-E Series (electronic only) published the text of legislative proposals (with the explanatory memoranda since October 2002).
  • Until June 1999, most legislative proposals were published in the O.J. C Series in paper, but without the explanatory memorandum that is included with the COM document version.
  • Monthly and annual cdroms of the COM documents are expected to be issued.
  • EUR-LEX  - Preparatory Acts (with explanatory texts).
  • LexisNexis  EURCOM;PREP has searchable abstracts. 

FINDING DOCUMENTS of Council, Parliament, etc.
See websites of EU institutions, including:

Also use Pre-Lex and OEIL for systematic tracking of specific legislative proposals and links to the full text of documents generated by the Council, Parliament, etc. during the legislative process.

EUROPEAN COURT OF JUSTICE

Citation of judgments  C-18/95, Terhoeve v. Inspecteur, [1999]  E.C.R. I-348. This case is published in the 1999 Reports of Cases Before the Court, Section I, at p. 348.

Official paper copies
Reports of Cases before the Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance.
Rubin NYUL KE-E6 5C67 (unbound on Reserve)

Finding cases by name or topic--other reporters Sources marked with an asterisk contain the full texts of the judgments.

  • Index A-Z: Numerical and Alphabetical Index of Cases Before the Court of Justice of the European Communities Since 1953.
    Reserve KJE924.2 .C68
  • *EUR-LEX  -  Case-law
  • CURIA  <curia.eu.int> Search the cases, or find by number or subject.
  • *WESTLAW  EU-CS, full text 1954-
  • *LexisNexis 
    EURCOM;ECJ, full text 1954- (from CELEX)
    EUROPE;ECCASE (from non-EU reporters)
  • *European Community Cases, 1989-. Prints selected ECJ cases and Commission decisions. Use the topical index and case name index in volume 4.  Reserve  NYUL KE-E1 C63 C6 C2
    Formerly Common Market Reporter, NYUL KE-E1 C63 C6 

COMPETITION AND MERGER MATTERS
The O.J. C Series prints limited merger-related documents such as the notice of the opening of an investigation and the notice of the Commission non-opposition to a merger. Other relevant sources are:

REPORTS AND GREEN/WHITE PAPERS

  • Green papers  - A policy document to stimulate public discussion.
  • White papers  - A detailed policy document for discussion and political decision.
  • EUR-LEX -  Documents of Public Interest (Commission white papers, green papers, reports and other communications)
  • Websites of the relevant EU institutions
  • COM Documents
  • Search for others in ECLAS  - the catalog of the European Commission Libraries.


  

This page was updated June 22, 2012



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