LibGuides: European Union Business Law: Preparing the AWR Paper: Primary Sources & Official EU Publications

Primary Sources & Official EU Publications

Types of Documents

Note the documents listed below are only some of the documents that are produced by the various institutions of the EU. The EU is a large and complicated network of various bodies, institutions, and committees, each of which produces a plethora of documents such as working papers, policy statements, etc. However, those listed below are the most likely to come up in researching a given issue. You may have to search multiple databases and websites to locate each.

Treaties
The EU treaties are binding agreements between EU member countries. They set out EU objectives, rules for EU institutions, how decisions are made and the relationship between the EU and its member countries. Every action taken by the EU is founded on treaties.
Legislation
New legislation is proposed by the European Commission and is typically adopted by the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament, although some laws are adopted by the Council alone. Although legislation may be implemented through one of four procedures, by far the most important and most frequently used is Co-Decision. This procedure requires that both the Council and the Parliament agree on the text of a law before it is passed. If they cannot agree, a Conciliation Committee is formed to work through differences, though a majority of Parliament may still reject the results of the Committee’s work. All non-treaty legislation is considered “secondary” legislation.

There are four main types of legislation:

Regulations: These are the most analogous to what we normally think of as “laws.” They are binding on all member states.
Directives: These are binding only in terms of the results that are to be achieved. They are addressed to individual member states, which are free to choose the best forms and methods of implementation.
Decisions: These are binding upon those to whom they are addressed, which may be member states, companies, or individuals.
Recommendations and Opinions: These are not binding and need not be initiated by the Commission.

COM Documents
COM documents represent the various types of documents issued by the European Commission. They may include proposals for legislation, working papers, communications with other bodies, and reports such as “green papers” and “white papers.” Green papers are discussion papers on specific policy areas and may act as an impetus for later legislation. They are often addressed to interested organizations or individuals who are invited to participate in consultation and debate. White papers are proposals for Commission action in certain areas; they usually follow green papers on the particular topic.
Parliamentary Debates
Most legislation is debated on the Parliament floor, and transcripts of these debates may be valuable to legal researchers.
Council Documents
Documents produced by the Council of Ministers, such as the Common Position, which identifies the Council’s position on amendments to legislation proposed by Parliament.
Judgments
Judgments are simply the decisions issued by the courts in the EU system. Researchers will most often be looking for European Court of Justice Decisions.
Refer to links to CURIA in the next column.

Offical EU Publications

Official Journal
The official gazette of record for the European Union. It is published every working day in all of the official languages of the member states. Only legal acts published in the Official Journal are binding.
Court of Justice of the European Union
The supreme court of the European Union in matters of European Union law
European Council and the Council of the EU> Documents and Publications
The European Council is the EU institution that defines the general political direction and priorities of the European Union. It consists of the heads of state or government of the member states, together with its President and the President of the Commission.
The Council of the EU is the institution representing the member states' governments. Also known informally as the EU Council, it is where national ministers from each EU country meet to adopt laws and coordinate policies.
EUR-Lex General Portal to Legislation, Cases, National Law, Preparatory Documents, Treaties and International Agreements
Tip: Select a case of interest in EUR-Lex, then under the tab for Linked Documents, click on Select All Documents Mentioning This Document to find subsequent cases referring to it. To see the cases referred to by the case you’re interested in, go to Linked Documents tab, then look at the list of Instruments Cited In Case Law.
Official website of the EU
Europa is the official web portal of the European Union, providing information on how the EU works, related news, events, publications and links to websites of institutions, agencies and other bodies.
European Parliament
Stay updated on what Parliament is doing. Find out about its history, policy, and procedures.
EU Legislative Observatory
Database with references to all documents of all the institutions involved in the intersinstitutional legislative process.

Where to Find EU Documents

EUROPA,- Official Documents from EU Institutions [Coverage Varies]
EUR-Lex - Access official versions of EU legislation and case law
- Legislation Search: Search for a specific EU legislative document
- EU Preparatory Acts: Documents used to prepare EU Legislation
- EU Legislative Observatory: Track the status of a a proposal
- Summaries of Legislation: Easy to understand concise breakdown of notable legislation
- EU Case Law : Find judgments from the ECJ, Opinions of the Advocates General, and Advisory Opinions
Westlaw --
- For case law use database EU-CS. Coverage from 1989 for General Court. Coverage from 1954 for ECJ cases. .
- For legislation use database EU-LEG. Coverage from 1952.
Lexis+
- Click on International Tab > View All Countries > European Union
  - Case law coverage: 1954-January 2016
  - Legislation coverage: October 6, 1958- October 14, 2015
Curia
- For caselaw coverage from 1989 for General Court. Coverage from 1953 for ECJ cases. Recent cases will likely appear here before other sources.

Link to CURIA Feed from Court of Justice

The ECJ's searchable website, CURIA, includes a list of recent ECJ judgments/Advocate General opinions and a list of recent General Court judgments. These lists link to texts. TIP: Click the magnifying glass to reach an advanced search screen.

Thanks!

Thanks to Margaret Watson of the Oxford University Bodleian Law Library, for guidance on identifying cases citing an earlier case.