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European Union Research     

This guide covers the Law Library's EU depository collection of official documents and publications, plus related books, journals, case reporters, yearbooks, indexes, finding tools, databases, and websites. Note: It does not reflect any changes to the composition, functions and documentation of the EU institutions that will take effect because of the Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe.

IN A HURRY? Try the shorter Cite-Checker's Guide: European Union  <www.law.nyu.edu/library/shortguideeu.html>. 

FOR MORE DETAILS, choose a topic from this chart:

EU Official documents, etc. Related materials

EU law online
EU institutions and their documents
Treaties
Legislation/Official Journal
Legislation in preparation (proposed)
COM documents
Reports, green papers, white papers
Competition and mergers
European Court of Justice

Research guides
Finding books
Journal articles
Scholarly papers
News, background and websites
Terminology
Statistics


EU LAW ONLINE
EUR-Lex       
WESTLAW and LexisNexis       

EUR-Lex <europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/en/index.htm> This new EUR-Lex is expected to contain the following, but it is still under construction. For content not available on the new site, try the original
EUR-Lex <europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/index.html>, but check to see if what you need is up-to-date.

Note that html texts may lack graphics, tables and lengthy annexes.

WESTLAW and LexisNexis (passwords available to NYU Law School students and faculty only) have full-text documents from the Official Journal in html (which may lack tables, graphics and lengthy annexes).

WESTLAW    
Note: For a description of a particular database and how to us find and field searching, click on Scope (the letter "i" in the green circle) after you access the database.

LexisNexis 
To see a list of the EU databases in LexisNexis, go to Look for a Source and choose >Legal (excluding U.S.)>European Union. Click on "i" for scope and search examples.

 
EU INSTITUTIONS AND THEIR DOCUMENTS
European Council
Council of the European Union
Parliament
Commission
Directorates-General and Services
Economic and Social Committee
Committee of the Regions
Court of Justice
Common Foreign and Security Policy
Justice and Home Affairs

For quick links to the websites of the main institutions: EUR-LEX <http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/en/index.htm>Links and Quick Links>The Institutions' Registers.

Registers of Documents: Commission, Parliament and Council  <europa.eu.int/doucments/registers/index_en.htm>

The two databases listed below track the status of proposed legislation and link to the full text of documents generated by the Council, Parliament, etc., during the legislative process. See also Legislation in Preparation.

European Council   <http://ue.eu.int/cms3_fo/showPage.asp?id=668&lang=en&mode=g>
A meeting of the European Council brings together the Heads of State or Government of the Member States of the European Union and the President of the European Commission. It should not be confused with the Council of the European Union (see below) or with the Council of Europe (which is a separate international organization). The decisions taken at the European Council meetings help to define the general political guidelines of the European Union. The Council Presidency Conclusions are made public at the closing of each European Council meeting and published at <ue.eu.int/presid/conclusions.htm> and in the June and December issues of the Bulletin of the European Union.   

Council of the European Union  "Council"  <ue.eu.int/>
The Council is the legislative body (in co-decision with the Parliament on many issues). It also coordinates the economic policies, concludes external international agreements, holds budgetary power with the Parliament, takes decisions to define and implement the common foreign and security policy set by the European Council, and coordinates Member State activities and adopts measures in the field of police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters. The Council is composed of one ministerial level representative from each Member State; the ministers vary depending upon the subject of the meeting.

The website includes:

Common Positions. According to the research guide Accessing European Union Information <www.eurunion.org/infores/resguide.htm>, a Common Position is the agreed Council text of legislation following the first reading by the Parliament under the cooperation and co-decision procedures. Published in:

Parliament  EUROPARL  <www.europarl.eu.int>
Parliament members are directly elected by the citizens of Europe every five years. Under powers conferred by the Treaties, the Parliament shares legislative and budgetary power with the Council and exercises democratic supervision over the Commission.  EUROPARL <www.europarl.eu.int/>

Commission of the European Communities   <europa.eu.int/comm/index_en.htm>
Under powers conferred by the Treaties, the Commission initiates legislative proposals, implements legislation and the budget and other programs adopted by the Council and the Parliament, ensures that Community law is properly implemented, represents the EU on the world stage, and negotiates international agreements. The website includes:

COM documents

Reports, Green Papers, White Papers

Commission Directorates-General and Services
<europa.eu.int/comm/dgs_en.htm>
The website of the relevant D-G or service may have citations to, and possibly the texts of, legislation and related materials.

Economic and Social Committee <www.esc.eu.int/>
Committee of the Regions <europa.eu.int/institutions/cor/index_en.htm>
Both websites have public registers of documents.
The opinions of these two committees are published periodically in the OJ C-E Series and they are available through EUR-Lex <europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/en/index.htm>Preparatory Acts.

Court of Justice of the EC  <curia.eu.int> Click here for more sources.

The Common Foreign and Security Policy
The legal instruments of the Common Foreign and Security Policy are guidelines set by the European Council, and decisions, joint actions and common positions adopted by the Council. These documents may be available in:

Also consult European Foreign Policy Bulletin <www.iue.it/EFPB/Welcome.html>, a comprehensive database containing joint actions and common positions of the European Council, declarations and public statements of the European Council, and Parliament documents. Retrieve documents by browsing by date, or by searching full text or fields such as date and place of issue. Documents are in English, or French if not available in English. 

Justice and Home Affairs
The legal instruments of Justice and Home Affairs are guidelines set by the European Council; common positions, framework decisions (to be implemented by the Member States), decisions and implementing measures, resolutions, declarations, and conclusions adopted by the Council; and conventions proposed by the Council subject to ratification by the Member States. These documents may be available in:

RESEARCH GUIDES

 Accessing European Union Information <www.eurunion.org/infores/resguide.htm> Compiled by the Library, Press and Public Affairs Section, Delegation of the European Commission, Washington, D.C.  The best source in English for details about the types of documents issued by the EU institutions and where they are published. (The NYU Law Library gratefully acknowledges Accessing European Union Information as the source of many of the details in this guide.)

Duncan Alford, "European Union Legal Materials: A Guide for Infrequent Users," 97 Law Library Journal 49 (2005).

European Union Law: An Integrated Guide to Electronic and Print Research <www.llrx.com/features/eulaw.htm> By Marylin J. Raisch, University of Toronto Bora Laskin Law Library.

JURIST EU: EU Law Guides Mini-portals to the main online resources for specific European Union issues such as competition law and human rights. <www.fd.unl.pt/je/subj_gd.htm>

List of other EU research guides Jean Monnet Center for International and Regional Economic Law & Justice  <www.jeanmonnetprogram.org/links/EU/links_7_2.html>

TO FIND BOOKS AND EU PUBLICATIONS 

SCHOLARLY PAPERS
ERPA, the European Research Papers Archive <eiop.or.at/erpa/
A searchable archive of papers on European integration from the following:

Walter Hallstein-Institute for European Constitutional Law, papers, etc. <www.rewi.hu-berlin.de/WHI/english/ctrl.htm>

AEI Archive of European Integration <//aei.pitt.edu> University of Pittsburgh Library System. Archive of (1) independently produced research materials (working papers, policy papers, conference papers, articles, etc.) and (2) key official EU documents that record the development of EU policy, such as Green and White papers and COM documents, that are not readily available elsewhere on the internet.

JOURNAL ARTICLES

Note: Some of these tools provide the full text of the journal articles that they list and some do not. For the most comprehensive list of articles on your topic, use a combination of these tools because no single one covers all the journals on EU law.

NEWS, BACKGROUND AND WEBSITES

Use these sources to follow recent developments or to start research on an unfamiliar topic. In addition to a summary of the topic, you may also find citations and links to relevant laws, cases and other official documents. See also EU Institutions for the location of official documents in the law library and online.

Lists of websites:

Europe Daily Bulletin/Bulletin Quotidien Europe from Agence Europe. Archive of EU news developments. Periodic supplements provide statistics, book reviews and copies of important official documents. The current daily issues are at the Circulation Desk. Issues for 2001-2005 are in Bound Periodicals 2--call number D1050 .E935. A cdrom containing the full-text issues from 1995 forward (except the statistical supplements) is available at the Circulation Desk; it is searchable by words in title or text and by subjects.

LexisNexis. The NEWS library has an extensive collection of newspapers, including many non-U.S. papers. Log in to www.lexis.com. Click on the News and Business tab. Click News. Under Country & Region choose European Union, then News.

Access World News through Global NewsBank: On the right side of Global NewsBank, click on Access World News. Next to the green search button, is a link to switch to an Advanced Search screen. Use the map to limit to Europe or a particular country.

World Trade Online >World Trade Online (click on "password required" and note the password before you access the database). A weekly report on major government and industry trade action in the U.S. and around the world. The online site also includes a searchable archive of Inside U.S. Trade, which the library also receives in paper (Reserve HF3000 .I57 latest year only); a collection of statements, reports and speeches; and special reports.    

Press Room of the Commission <europa.eu.int/comm/press_room/index_en.cfm>

EU News <europa.eu.int/news/index_en.htm>

EIU Country Commerce  Analysis of worldwide market trends and business strategies, and assessment and forecast of political, economic and business conditions in almost 200 countries. 

European Union Law Reporter. Bicester, Oxfordshire: CCH International; Chicago: Commerce Clearing House, 1962-.  Formerly Common Market Reporter. Use the detailed Topical Index in volume 4 to find commentary on policy, legislation, and case law, and citations to legislation and cases.
Reserve  NYUL KE-E1 C63 C6

EUROPA <europa.eu.int> offers quick access to:

     These tools are helpful for navigating EUROPA:

IDEA, the online interinstitutional directory <europa.eu.int/idea/index.htm

OEIL Legislative Observatory <www2.europarl.eu.int/oeil/index.jsp  Monitors the decision-making activity through these services:

PreLex <europa.eu.int/prelex/apcnet.cfm?CL=en>
Status of legislative proposals with citations to related documents.

SCAD Plus <europa.eu.int/scadplus/   Summaries of the Union's Legislation

Bulletin of the European Union (formerly Bulletin of the European Communities) is useful for tracking the legislative process and gathering citations to documents, but it is slow to be published. 

General Report on the Activities of the European Union, 1995-. Annual Commission report to Parliament.

Delegation of the European Commission, Washington, D.C.  <www.eurunion.org>

CORDIS Community Research & Development Information Service  <www.cordis.lu/en/home.html>

Dialogue with Citizens  <europa.eu.int/scadplus/citizens/en/inter.htm>
Factsheets and guides about rights of residence, education, employment, social security, and consumer interests.

Dialogue with Business <europa.eu.int/business/en/index.html>
Policy and practical information on public procurement, intellectual property, technical harmonization, the Internal Market rules, etc.

TED Tenders Electronic Daily S Supplement to the Official Journal <ted.publications.eu.int/

EU Information Society Website <europa.eu.int/information_society/index_en.htm>
Commission DG Information Society and other EU institutions interested in the Information Society

Europol http://www.europol.eu.int/index.asp
Established by the Maastricht Treaty in order to improve cooperation of Member States in fighting international organized crime by facilitating the exchange of information and providing analysis and technical support.

EU Depository Libraries and Academic Resources

TERMINOLOGY

EuroDicAutom: European Terminilogy Database
<europa.eu.int/eurodicautom/login.jsp>  
Useful for technical and specialized terms related to EU fields of action and policy. Supplies terms in the eleven official languages plus Latin.

Eurovoc: the multilingual thesaurus <europa.eu.int/celex/eurovoc> used for indexing the documentation of the EU institutions

STATISTICS

Eurostat <europa.eu.int/comm/eurostat/> FREE statistics from the official EU statistical service.

Eurostat Electronic Library (CDROM). Luxembourg : Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2001-. An off-line version of some of the publications from the Eurostat web site.  
Circulation HA1107 .A15

Eudorstat (CDROM). A collection of statistical publications on various themes such as economic and finance or population and social conditions.
Circulation HA37 .E93 E97

Market Access Database  <mkaccdb.eu.int/>
Sectoral and Trade Barriers Database, Statistical Tradeflow Database, etc. Country and product specific data from the Directorate-General on Trade. 
 
TREATIES are the primary law. They provide the legal bases of EU policies, legislation, institutions, and processes. 

The founding treaties, accession treaties, consolidated texts, drafts, and other treaties, plus the Constitution for Europe, are available online at
EUR-Lex <europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/en/treaties/index.htm>

Official citations
Consolidated versions
Other places to find the treaties
Accession treaties
Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU
External treaties
Constitutional reform and Intergovernmental Conferences

Official citations  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 <curia.eu.int/en/content/juris/index.htm> (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 at <europa.eu.int/abc/obj/amst/en/index.htm>.

•  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 at <europa.eu.int/comm/nice_treaty/index_en.htm

•  Draft Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe, <european-convention.eu.int/bienvenue.asp?lang=EN> 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 <europa.eu.int/constitution/index_en.htm>
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 deposit its ratification.

Consolidated versions of the Treaties are unofficial publications intended to show the earlier Treaties as amended by later Treaties.

Other places to find the Treaties

The EC also publishes hardbound collections of the Treaties:

Encyclopedia of European Union Law. Constitutional Texts. Ed. Neville March Hunnings. London: Sweet & Maxwell, 1996-. Looseleaf. 
Reserve  KJE918 .E56x

The Constitutional Texts volume above was previously Volume B, European Community Treaties, of Encyclopedia of European Community Law (K.R. Simmonds. London: Sweet & Maxwell; Edinburgh: Green; [New York]: Bender, [1973-1993]), which could be useful for older texts and the history of the treaties.
Reserve  NYUL KE-E4 7E53

Volume 4, European Union Law Reporter.  London: Sweet & Maxwell, 2000-. Bicester, Oxfordshire:  CCH International; Chicago: Commerce Clearing House, 1997-2000.  Formerly Common Market Reporter, 1962-97.
Reserve  NYUL KE-E1 C63 C6

European Union Law Guide. Compiled and edited by Philip Raworth. New York: Oceana Publications, 1994-. Multivolume looseleaf.
Reserve  KJE947 .E89x

WESTLAW:  EU-TREATIES

LexisNexis:  EUROPE;TREATY

Accession treaties admit new countries to the EU and are generally published with related documents.

EUR-Lex <europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/en/treaties/treaties_accession.htm>
lists the accession treaties and provides the citation to the OJ and a link to the full text.

See also Ratificacion del tratado de la Union Europea: trabajos preparatorios=Ratificering af traktaten om den Europaeiske Union: forberedende arbejde=Ratification of the Treaty on European Union: preparations. Luxemburgo: Oficina de Publicaciones Oficiales de las Comunidades Europeas, 1996.
Compact Shelves KJE4443 .A12x 1996

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 <db.consilium.eu.int/df/home.asp?lang=en> Fundamental Rights
Parliament website on the Charter
<www.europarl.eu.int/charter/default_en.htm>
Part II of the Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe incorporates the Charter into the new Constitution.

External treaties between the EU and non-EU nations, are published in the Official Journal L Series. For a list, see EUR-LEX <http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/en/index.htm> Legislation in Force>Directory of Community Legislation in Force>External Relations.
 
Constitutional Reform  The European Convention <european-convention.eu.int/default.asp?lang=EN> on the future development of the EU, which convened in 2002, consists of a period of public input, followed by analysis and proposals in preparation for the next Intergovernmental Conference. Parliament website on the Convention <www.europarl.eu.int/europe2004/actual_en.htm>

Intergovernmental Conferences
A to Z Index of EU Websites <eurunion.org/infores/euindex.htm>  Delegation of the EU in the U.S. To locate websites and document collections for IGCs, search under "I" for IGC.

LEGISLATION
Types
Official Journal (O.J.)
Where to find the O.J.
Finding legislation by number, e.g., Dir. 128/96
Finding legislation by topic
National implementing measures for directives
Consolidated legislation

Types of Legislation For a description of the process and players and of the different legislative procedures, see EUR-Lex <europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/index.html> About EU Law (on the old EUR-Lex site).

OFFICIAL JOURNAL  Legislative acts and non-binding acts are collected and published in the Official Journal of the European Union (O.J.) Prior to February 1, 2003, the title was the Official Journal of the European Communities. The O.J. is a chronological publication issued every working day in all official languages of the EU. Page numbering starts over with each daily issue. The O.J. is published in the following parts:

L Series:  Legislation (regulations, directives and other binding acts)
Citation:  2001 O.J. (L1) 10 [2001 O.J. L Series, issue no. 1, at p. 10].

C Series:  Information and Notices
Citation: 2000 O.J. (C371) 2 [2000 O.J. C Series, issue no. 371, at p. 2].

The C Series has contained, and with two exceptions* still contains, the following types of documents. See EU Institutions for other print and online sources of official documents and publications.

O.J. C-E Series: Started in July 1999. An electronic-only series containing documents that are not published in the paper edition of the O.J. C Series. The C-E Series is available in EUR-LEX <http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/en/index.htm> Official Journal (C-E issues are listed with C issues), and on a CDROM (Circulation KJE908 .O34). The C issue will list all documents contained in the C-E issue for the same day if there is one.

S Series: offers for tenders/bids. The current day's issue is available on the TED Tenders Electronic Daily S Supplement to the Official Journal <ted.publications.eu.int/

Annex to the Official Journal:  Debates of Parliament. Ceased publication after the May 1999 session.

WHERE TO FIND THE O.J.

Official version 1973 to present-
Official Journal of the European Union (formerly Official Journal of the European Communities),  (English edition)
Paper:  Compact Shelves (unbound on Reserve)  KJE908 .J6
Microfiche through 2005:  Media Center Cabinet A

PDF Jan. 1, 1998 to present-
EUR-LEX <europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/en/index.htm> Official Journal. Search by date, language, citation or simple word search. If you already have the number of a regulation, directive or decision, start with the Legislation link instead of O.J. The electronic O.J. is archived on a CD-ROM (Circulation KJE908 .O34).

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

WESTLAW  (PDF after 1997)
EU-LEG, 1952-
Find by O.J. citation:  oj 1990 L352/1
Search full-text or fields such as DN (document number),
e.g., DN(91/250) [to find Directive 91/250].

EU-OJCSERIES
EU-ACTS (legislative proposals and related documents)
EU-QUESTIONS (Parliamentary Written Questions)

LexisNexis (not PDF)
EURCOM; ECLAW, 1953-
EURCOM;LEGIS, July 1979-
Get a Document:  2000 oj L 114

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

1952-72: Official Journal, Special Edition contains English translations of binding acts adopted prior to UK accession. The Official Journal, Special Edition, Second Series contains English translations of non-binding acts and communications adopted prior to UK accession.
Microfiche:  Media Center Cabinet A

Some of the pre-1973 legislation may also be found in English in volume C of Encyclopedia of European Community Law (K.R. Simmonds. London: Sweet & Maxwell; Edinburgh: Green; [New York]: Bender [1973-1993]).

Official Journal...Annex: Debates of Parliament.  
Paper: Compact Shelves NYUL KE-E5 2J67 
Ceased in paper after the May 1999 Session. After July 1999, published in a CD-ROM (Circulation KJE908 .O33).  Also try EUROPARL <www.europarl.eu.int/> Plenary Sessions>Debates, 1996-; Index 1984-99.

Finding legislation by number, e.g., Dir. 91/250

Finding legislation by topic if you do not know the O.J. citation or the number of the act. The Official Journal is a chronological publication, not arranged by subject and not cumulated. There are monthly and annual numerical and analytical indexes shelved with the paper and microfiche editions of the O.J, but the methods listed below are easier to use.

National implementing measures for directives are binding as to the result to be achieved but each Member State chooses the form and method for implementing them in the Member State. 

See, in general, Application of Community Law [status tables, etc.] <europa.eu.int/comm/secretariat_general/sgb/droit_com/index_en.htm

The following sources may provide citations to (but not the text of)the national implementing measures:

The EU and commercial publishers may also track the progress toward national implementation by Member States in general, or for a particular directive. See, e.g., Butterworths EC Legislation Implementator (London: Butterworths, 1992-) Compact Shelves KJE915 .B88x; and Summary Report from the Commission on the Implementation by Member States of Council Directive 90/219/EEC on the Contained Use of Genetically Modified Micro-Organisms (Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2000).

Hints for finding the text of Member State laws
The sources listed above generally will not give you the text of the national implementing law (exceptions: LexisNexis and Westlaw limited coverage of EU countries). If you find citations to relevant national law, check JULIUS <julius.law.nyu.edu> or ask at the Reference Desk to determine if the law library has the laws of the Member State(s) in question. The following sources may also be useful:

European Current Law.  London: Sweet & Maxwell, 1992-.  
Monthly digest of legislation and cases. Cumulated in European Current Law Year Book.
B2 Stacks (unbound on Reserve) KF-E8 9701

Commercial Laws of Europe.  London:  European Law Center, 1978-.
Selected texts of recent laws in English translation. Lists of recently adopted legislation by topic and by directive number.
B1Stacks (unbound on Reserve) KJC2044.3 .C66

Doing Business in Europe. Bicester, Oxfordshire, England: CCH, 1972. Country-by-country summaries of, and citations to, national law for the EU Member States (except Finland), plus Switzerland. Companion set to European Union Law Reporter. 
Reserve  KE-E1 C63 D6 D5

Commercial Laws of the World. Ormond Beach, Fla.: Foreign Tax Law Publishers (looseleaf).
Country-by-country English translations of selected business organization laws and related laws.
Reserve K1001.4 .C65x

Tax Laws of the World. Ormond Beach, Fla.: Foreign Tax Law Publishers (looseleaf).
Country-by-country English translations of selected tax laws.
Reserve K4504.15 .T394x

Doing Business in France. By the Law Firm of Simeon Moquet Borde & Associes. New York, N.Y.: M. Bender, 1983- (looseleaf).
Summaries of and citations to selected laws in business, employment, securities, taxation, and other areas.
Reserve KJV2199 .D75x 1983

Business Transactions in Germany. Ed. Bernd Ruster. New York, N.Y.: M. Bender; Munich: C.H. Beck, 1983- (looseleaf).
The Statutory Material volume contains English translations of selected legislation. 
Reserve KK2057 .B87 1983

EUI Country Commerce.  London: Economist Intelligence Unit, 2000.
Analysis of worldwide market trends and business strategies and assessment and forecast of political, economic and business conditions in almost 200 countries.

Foreign Databases by Jurisdiction <www.law.nyu.edu/library/foreign_intl/country.html>
Mirela Roznovschi of the NYU Law Library maintains this selective list of links to guides and full-text databases for some of the world's jurisdictions.

For descriptions of the legal system in a Member State and citations to laws on specific subjects, see:

"Consolidated Legislation" refers to unofficial texts that incorporate amendments and corrections into the original text of a legislative act in a single document so that the the current state of the law can be seen more easily. A consolidated text reflects several texts that were initially published in the Official Journal. Consolidated texts are not official and should be used for informational purposes only. Each consolidated text has a list of all the legal documents taken into account for its construction. The consolidated legislation in EUR-Lex <europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/consleg/index1.html> is available in HTML or PDF and is best accessed by starting with the Analytical Structure, which is based upon the Directory of Community Legislation in Force.

LEGISLATION IN PREPARATION   
COM Documents (proposed legislation)
Finding documents of Council, Parliament, etc.
Reports, Green Papers, White Papers

For a description of the process and players and of the different legislative procedures, see EUR-Lex <europa.eu.int//eur-lex/en/index.html> About EU Law (on the original EUR-Lex site).

Legislation must rest on authority from the Treaties. If you are doing retrospective research on an adopted act, you can usually find the relevant treaty article(s) cited in the final text of the adopted legislation (in the O.J. L Series). The treaty article will require a specific legislative procedure. The type of legislative procedure will dictate whether the Council, Parliament, Committee of the Regions, and Economic and Social Committee will generate documents during the process. At least in recent years, the footnotes to the final text of the adopted legislation will also cite the "preparatory acts," including the COM document (proposal) and other documents from the legislative process. Now, EUR-Lex as well as the public registers of the Commission, the Parliament and the Council offer searchable databases of the preparatory acts.

Commission proposal. Prior to drafting the proposal, the Commission may issue a green paper or a white paper. The text of a Commission legislative proposal, also called a preparatory act, may be amended several times before it leaves the Commission. Legislative proposals are available in the following sources:

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 examples:
COM (96) 344 final [final version of COM number 344 for 1996].
COM (2003) 659 final

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

Finding documents of Council, Parliament, etc.
See EU Institutions. Also use EU, 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.

Reports, Green Papers, White Papers