1. European Union Legal Research
Secondary Legislation, the EU Legislative Process and Case Law
Duncan Alford
Law Librarian and EU Specialist
Princeton University

2. EU Institutions Involved in Legislation
European Commission
Council of the European Union
European Parliament
Economic and Social Committee
Committee of the Regions

3. Four Methods of Enacting Legislation
Co-decision
Cooperation
Assent
Consultation

4. Four Types of EU Legislation
Regulations
Directives
Decisions
Recommendations / Opinions

5. Official Journal of the European Union
Legislation – L Series
Communications – C Series
Communications – CE Series
Communications – CA Series
Annex – Debates
Supplement – S Series (tenders)

6. Regulations
Council Regulation No. 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters,
2001 O.J. (L 12) 1.
Number of Regulation then its year

7. Directives
First Council Directive 77/780 on the coordination of the laws, regulations and administrative provision relating to the taking up and pursuit of the business of credit institutions, 1977 O.J. (L 322) 30.
Year then number of directive

8. Co-decision Procedure
Green paper or White paper issued
Commission makes a legislative proposal
First Reading by European Parliament
Common Position by Council of the EU
Second Reading by European Parliament
Commission Opinion on EP amendments
Joint Text by Conciliation Committee
Third Reading by European Parliament

9. EU Legislative Documents
Commission Documents or COM documents
White Papers
Green Papers
EurLex
Example:
European Governance, COM (2001) 428

10. EU Legislative Documents II
Common Position or Council Documents
European Parliament Reports
European Parliament Debates
Joint Text of Conciliation Committee
Economic and Social Committee Opinions
Committee of the Regions Opinions

11. Legislative Document Databases
PreLex (by European Commission)
OEIL – Legislative Observatory (by the European Parliament)

12. OEIL v. PreLex OEIL By European Parliament Procedures since 1994
Summaries of key documents and some links
Tracking legislation
PreLex
By European Commission
Proposals since 1975
Full-text documents since 1999

13. EU Official Publications
Bulletin of the European Union
General Report on the Activities of the Community

14. EU Case Law European Court of Justice Court of First Instance
15 judges, 8 advocates general
Court of First Instance
Created 1989
15 judges
National courts

15. Case Law Sources European Court Reports
Curia,
European Community Cases
Common Market Law Reports
C.M.L.R. Antitrust Reports

16. Databases EurLex CELEX Westlaw LexisNexis Lawtel EU
Europa – list of databases

17. EU Depository Libraries
New York City
NYU Law Library
NYPL, Science, Industry and Business Library
New York State
SUNY Albany
SUNY Buffalo
Cornell University