This guide serves as a locator for some of the most frequently-used EU materials available in the UGA Law Library and on the web. Many of the print items received by the library are cataloged individually and shelved by call number. Use our catalog, GAVEL, to locate these materials. If you do not know the exact title of an item, try a keyword search in GAVEL or, try a Subject search (note: "European Union" is a subject heading, but you might also try looking for specific subjects followed by the geographical/political designation, e.g., "Environmental Law -- European Union" - always bear in mind that searching by keyord is much more flexible than searching by subject in GAVEL).
The University of Georgia Law Library is a selective depository for EU documents (dating to the late 1980s). In addition to the items we receive through the depository program, the library also purchases a number of other documents and materials published by and about the institutions of the EU. Many of our EU depository items can be checked out, while others must be used in the Law Library.
An
important
development in the EU's depository
program is the increase in electronic information. The official EU site, Europa,
provides access to a broad array of information about the organization,
its member states, its institutions, its founding documents, and its
work. EUR-Lex, available at http://eur-lex.europa.eu, is theofficial portal to EU Law. It is easy-to-use and
includes, among many types of materials, the full
text of the founding treaties, legislation, opinions, resolutions, case
law, and parliamentary questions.
a. Primary Legislation
Primary
legislation
in the EU consists
of the treaties establishing the various communities and EU, plus
revising and consolidating
treaties, documents of accession, and treaties with external entities. Access the treaties at http://eur-lex.europa.eu/en/treaties/index.htm.
b. Secondary Legislation
Secondary
legislation in the EU consists
of Regulations, Directives, and Decisions, which are based on one or
more
Treaty articles. Regulations have general effect and are
directly
applicable in the Member States; Directives are addressed to
the
Member States and binding as to the result, but Member States may
choose
the form and methods for implementation into their national legal
systems;
Decisions
are binding only on the addressee; and Recommendations and Opinions
have no binding force.
Use EUR-Lex to access secondary legislation.
c. Legislative Documents
European Commission: COM Documents include proposals and amendments issued by the European Commission. Many of these are also published later in the Official Journal, "C" series at KJE 908 Ser. C (Basement) without the Explanatory Memorandum. COM Documents are shelved by number in the EU collection (Basement).
Economic
and Social
Committee (ESC or CES)
and Committee of the Regions: opinions are in the
Official Journal,
"C" series at KJE 908 C Ser. (Basement). ESC opinions are also
available as CES documents, which are shelved by number in the EU
collection
(Basement). Committee of the Regions documents
are also available as CdR documents, which are shelved by number in the
EU collection (Basement).
Access to COM documents is available at http://eur-lex.europa.eu/en/prep/index.htm.
d. Publication
The authoritative source for primary and secondary legislation is the Official Journal of the European Communities"L" series, at KJE 908 Ser. L (Basement).
The Official Journal "C" Series contains non-binding decisions and resolutions of the institutions, communications and notices of the Commission, proposals for legislation, Minutes of the Parliament, replies to written questions from Parliamentarians, opinions of the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, Court judgments, Commission contract tenders, and the daily European Currency Unit (ECU) rate. KJE908 Ser. C (Annex-3rd).
The Official Journal - Annex publishes verbatim reports of plenary sessions (debates) of the European Parliament. KJE908 (Annex-3rd).
Westlaw and Lexis both provide access to a variety of EU materials.
e. No Official Codification!
Cases of the Court of Justice are published in Reports of Cases before the Court of Justice and Court of First Instance at KJE924.5 R47 (Basement). Because there is a backlog of several months between the judgment and its publication in the Reports, you may want to check the ECJ's Web site (http://curia.europa.eu/), which posts cases within a few days after judgment, or EUR-Lex (http://eur-lex.europa.eu/en/index.htm), which allows for searching by search terms and provides access to citation information.
Commercial reporters also publish selected cases of the ECJ and of national courts' decisions on issues of community or EU law. Try European Community Cases at KJE923.7 .E97 and Common Market Law Reports at KJE923.7 .C66 (Annex-3rd).
1. Annual Reports, Periodicals, etc.
Bulletin
of
the European Union
( KJE903 .B85 - Basement) and online at http://europa.eu/bulletin/en/welcome.htm.
Review
of the
Council's Work
(HC241.2 .C72a - Basement)
LegalTrac,
the Index to Legal Periodicals and the Index to Foreign Legal
Periodicals all
index numerous journals containing articles on or related to the
European
Union. Follow the links to these indexes from the Law Library's
Research Resources page at http://www.law.uga.edu/library/research/index.html.
Lexis and Westlaw both contain full-text articles, including many on the EU. The Legal Journal Index on Westlaw indexes articles from legal journals published in the United Kingdom and Europe as well as journals covering topics pertaining to the laws of the European Community and its Member States.
3. Press Releases & Hot Topics
RAPID on the Europa Web site at http://europa.eu/rapid/ provides press releases from the European Commission, Council of Ministers, Court of Justice, Court of Auditors, Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions.
4. Recommended Research Guides, Bibliographies, etc.