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Link to REFORM TREATY ("Lisbon Treaty") Documents approved at the Intergovernmental Conference of 18 October 2007 in Lisbon:

• Protocol (no 9bis) on the Decision of the Council relating to the implementation of Article 9c(4) of the Treaty on European Union and Article 205(2) of the Treaty on the functionning of the European Union between 1 november 2014 and 31 march 2017 on the one hand, and as from 1 April 2017 on the other
• Declaration on Article 9c(4) of the Treaty on European Union and Article 205(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union
• Declaration in relation to the delimitation of competences
• Composition of the European Parliament
• Declaration ad Article 222 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union on the number of Advocates-General in the Court of Justice
• Declaration ad Article 9e of the Treaty on European Union

Click in the box to go to more detailed search-features:

Basic Information

EU ABC by Dr Klaus-Dieter Borchardt (EU 2000) or in PDF.
EU Glossary.
Reader information for Directory of Community legislation.
Libraries Catalogue – Internet Resources by word-search AND language & document-type & Title/Author/Subject/Article.
To monitor the decisions-making process between the EU institutions use PreLex at .
Summaries of EU legislation can be found through ScadPlus at .
The Tenders Electronic Daily (TED) database contains all active notices published in the Supplement to the Oficial Journal (OJ S). It can be found through ScadPlus at .
The European Union Law website at gives full text the OJ L and C series, treaties (primary sources), case-law, legislation (preparatory and in force), parliamentary questions and documents of public interest. A CELEX database was closed by the end of 2006 and the information transferred to EUR-lex.

EUR-Lex at allows the following search:

• General search by:

  • Search terms
  • Date or time Span
  • Author
  • Classification headings
  • Keyword

• Search by file category:

  • Treaties
  • Legislation
  • Preparatory acts
  • Case-law
  • Parliamentary questions

• Search by document number:

  • Natural number
  • Celex number (CELEX database was closed by the end of 2006 and the information transferred to EUR-lex)
  • Consolidated text

• Search by publication reference:

  • Official Journal (O.J.)
  • European Court Report (E.C.R.)

The EUR-lex Guidelines for good results in Search by Official Journal publication reference is as follows:

• The year field takes 4 characters; the month and day fields take 2 (Example: Year 1999 Month 09 Day 12).
• Always enter the year (Month and day fields are optional).
• To get the annexes to the OJ C series, enter A or E after the OJ number (Example: select the C series, then enter 123A to get an OJ with the reference C 123 A).
• The Supplement S to the OJ (calls for tenders) is published in the TED database (choose English in right upper box).

The Official Journal or gazette (O.J.; seldom OJE), published daily in 23 languages, is divided into the following four parts:

• L - Agreed legislation (the most important part of the O.J.
• C - Proposed legislation, notes of ECJ judgments, information notices from the EC, Europa Parliament resolutions, questions and answers. The contents of this series varies do to considered public interest. The documents included in the C series are partly published only electronically.
• S - The Supplement S to the OJ (calls for tenders) is published in the TED database (Tenders Electronic Daily), which is the Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union. It contains all active notices published in the Supplement to the Official Journal (OJ S), including invitation to tender for public contracts.
• Annex - Debates of the EP.

Note: that not all pages exists in the online version of the Official Journal, but only in the hardcover printed volumes. The L and C series were introduced in 1968, before which year there was a single series. Some databases used the letters B or P to distinguish this single series from series L and C. The letters B and P do not form part of the official publication reference.

In EUR-Lex search: To get the annexes to the OJ C series, enter A or E after the OJ number. Example: select the C series, then enter 123A to get an OJ with the reference C 123 A.

Note: When reading texts of the treaties and court judgments, pre and post the Amsterdam Treaty, bear in mind the following (see note on citation and renumbering of EC Treaty and Treaty of European Union).

• In the text of the Treaty on European Union in 1992:

  • Provisions were identified by the letters A-S
  • The numbers were preserved for the other three Treaties.

• In the Treaty of Amsterdam (Explanatory Texts to the Amsterdam Treaty.):

  • EC Treaty renumbered from start to finish to eliminate awkward numerical oddities (e.g. Article 104b and 130t)
  • Switch from letters to numbers in the EU Treaty.

Explanatory Texts to the Nice Treaty.

Basic information for each member state can be found in The World Factbook and on the EU website on the legal order for each EU country.

Regulations, Directives & Decisions

• Community legislation in force can be found:

  • Analytical structure (after subject matter)
  • In archives.

• Consolidated Community legislation in force (unofficial versions):

  • Chronological Index (on year basis).
  • Search-website for consolidated legislation.
  • After subject matter.

EU Case law

Publication of European Court decisions (note: European Court Reports (ECR) is the authoritative texts of ECJ opinions and judgments) are amongst other available from:

• The EUR-Lex website at.
• The website for Court of Justice & Court of First Instance at.

Note on the courts citation and renumbering of EC Treaty and Treaty of European Union.

There exists several types of indexes of cases:

• Numerical access to the case-law. Access to the case-law by case number makes it possible to find information relating to every case brought before the Court of Justice, the Court of First Instance or the Civil Service Tribunal between 1953 and the present day. Cases are listed by number in the order in which they were lodged at the relevant Registry. Cases may also be located by party names using the "find (Ctrl+F)" function on the toolbar. Cases may be consulted by clicking on the case number.

  • The texts of judgments and orders in cases lodged up to and including 1997 which have been published in the European Court Reports may be consulted by clicking on the case number and following the link to EUR-Lex, the interinstitutional database.
  • Cases lodged since 1998 may be consulted by clicking on the case number and following that link to all the texts relating to the case in question which are contained in the case-law database of this site.
  • Cases lodged before the Court of Justice: from 1953 to 1988; and since 1989
  • Cases lodged before the Court of First Instance: since 1989
  • Cases lodged before the Civil Service Tribunal : since 2005

• Digest of Community case-law - The Répertoire de jurisprudence communautaire (only in French). It is a systematic collection of the summaries of the judgments and orders of the Court of Justice and of the Court of First Instance of the European Communities and the Civil Service Tribunal of the European Union delivered since their inception, presented following a layout subdivided into seven parts:

  • the Community legal order
  • the European Community (EC)
  • the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC/CS)
  • the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC/AE)
  • the Brussels Convention
  • the European Civil Service
  • the European Union (EU)

• Alphabetical Table of Subject-matter - The Table alphabétique des matières (only in French). It lists the legal questions dealt with in the decisions of the Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance of the European Communities and the Civil Service Tribunal of the European Union and in the Opinions of the Advocates General, presented in alphabetical order.
• Notes de References des Notes de Doctrine - The Notes de doctrine aux arrêts gives the references to published legal literature relating to the judgments of the Court of Justice and of the Court of First Instance of the European Communities and the Civil Service Tribunal of the European Union (only in French). Index by case number to all Court reports, including details of case notes in legal journals.

  • Preface
  • Vol. 1 : 1954 > 1988
  • Vol. 2 : 1989 > 2005
  • A chronologic list

General-Advocates documentations

Opinions from the General-Advocate or alternative search website.

Parliamentary documentation

Parliamentary documentation can also be found by docsearch:

• Committee Reports are listed by Rapporteur.
• Resolutions can be found through the European Parliament's website, in the C series of the OJ, in EUR-Lex.
• Debates (verbatim texts) are published in Annex of the OJ, which is indexed by name of MEP, subject and session.
• Parliament's questions (written questions & answers) are published in series C of the OJ and indexed in the Official Journal Index.

The European Parliament Register gives access to the following official documents:

• Draft reports and opinions - Prior to the meetings of Parliament's committees, all documents on the agenda are published on Europarl. You can find them under the heading 'Meeting documents' for each committee. Access to these documents is at present possible only by date of committee meeting
• Reports adopted in committee. Search by:

  • list of new reports
  • rapporteur
  • committee responsible
  • report number
  • PE number
  • type of legislative procedure
  • keywords in title or text

• Part-session minutes. A provisional version of the minutes is published prior to their approval in plenary, and is later replaced by the final version as published in the Official Journal, C series. Search by date of sitting, or keywords(s) in title.
• Texts adopted by Parliament - Opinions of Parliament, legislative resolutions, resolutions, decisions on common positions and joint texts, own-initiative resolutions, budgetary resolutions, etc. Texts published in the provisional version as approved in plenary and subsequently published in the Official Journal, C series, in their final form. Search by: date of adoption in plenary, source referred to in report, or keyword(s) in title.
• Resolutionst (all resolutions since July 1994)(Rule 113 of Parliament's Rules of Procedure) and resolutions on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law (Rule 115). Texts published in the provisional version of 'texts adopted' as approved in plenary, and subsequently published in the Official Journal, C series, in their final form. Search by date of adoption in plenary, reference for motion for a resolution (B6-xxxx) or keyword(s) in title
• Written declarations (since 1999)(Rule 116). Texts published in the provisional version of 'texts adopted' at the end of the part-session at which they are adopted, and subsequently published in the Official Journal, C series, in their final form. Search by year of distribution or date announced in plenary.
• Debates in plenary or Verbatim report of proceedings and final text of debates(all debates since April 1996). The verbatim record of proceedings of Parliament's debates in plenary is available in the original language of the speakers and, after translation, in all the Union's working languages. The original-language texts are generally published the day after the debate. Provisional translations are published at the same location approximately four weeks later: these translations are subsequently replaced by the final version, which is also published in an Annex to the Official Journal. Search by date of sitting, speaker, or keywords(s) in heading of debate.
• Bulletins or alternative. Presentation of the current work of Parliament and its bodies: appears monthly (except in August). A special edition is produced immediately after an EU summit, containing both the EP President's address to the European Council and the Presidency Conclusions.
• Parliamentary questions (since 1994/99). Search by Member's name, political group, Member State of origin, question number, Official Journal number, institution to which the question is addressed, or keyword(s) in title or text.
• Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament with Index.
• Public register of the European Parliament.
• Legislative Observatory (OEIL): European Parliament data base.

Commission documentation

The Registers of Commission Documents (only documents produced since 1 January 2001)helps to identify categories of document, related to various activities of the Commission, namely:

• Green papers are discussion papers published by the Commission on a specific policy area. In some cases they provide an impetus for subsequent legislation.
• White Papers are documents containing proposals for Community action in a specific area. They sometimes follow a green paper. White papers contain an official set of proposals in specific policy areas and are used as vehicles for their development.
• Commission meeting
• Work programme
• Register of COM, SEC and C documents [Help on document types]:

  • COM documents: proposed legislation and other Commission communications to the Council and/or the other institutions, and their preparatory papers;
  • SEC documents: internal documents associated with the decision-making process and the general operation of Commission departments;
  • C documents: legal acts adopted by the Commission in the exercise of its own or delegated powers.

• Register of the Committees' deliberations
• Application of Community law.
• Codecision.

This register supplements the PreLex database of interinstitutional procedures, which can be used to search for documents produced by the institutions in drafting Community legislation.

Council of Europe documentation

The register of the Council of the European Union has a search screen. The register contains references for documents produced by the Council since 1 January 1999.
See also index-website and an alternative.

The EU Ombudsman

Search website for reports, draft recommendations and decisions.

EuroJust

EUROJUST is dealing with serious cross-border and organised crime. See also index.

Miscellaneous

• News.
• Statistic from Eurostat.
• SCADplus contains summaries of legislation. - Here is clear and concise summaries of EU legislation in all policy areas. Simply click on the subject of choice and access user-friendly explanations of legislation concerning that subject.

• ECLAS - European Commission Library Catalogue. - Provides bibliographical references for publications, but no document delivery or copy service.

  • In the standard version of ECLAS or in ECLAS Pro, electronic resources can be found; then press the Access ECLAS button, or go directly.
  • If one only want to search Internet Resources; then press the Internet Resource button, or go directly.

• The European Union's publisher - Site of the official publications office of the EU.
• The Citizens Signpost Service CSS. - Aimed at EU citizens who encounter problems with mobility in the European Internal Market. It has an advisory service, which gives guidance and practical advice to citizens on specific problems they encounter in the EU and its Internal Market. The service is free. Replies are given by phone or e-mail in the language requested by the citizen (one of the 23 official languages).

Rules on Civil Judgments and Enforcement between the Member States

Council Regulation No 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (Into force March 1st 2002), Official Journal L 012, 16/01/2001 P. 0001 – 0023.

Joined declaration issued by the European Parliament and Commission at the time the Regulation was passed - Statement on Articles 15 and 73.

Denmark repealed its reservation on the E.U. Regulation 44/2001 after Denmark and the E.U. has made a so-called parallel treaty that makes the rules of the E.U. Regulation 44/2001 of 22/12 2000 to be used between Denmark and the other E.U. Member States, see Council Decision 2005/790/EC of 20 September 2005 on the signing, on behalf of the Community, O.J. L 299, 16/11/2005 p. 0061-069, and the Agreement between the European Community and the Kingdom of Denmark on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters, O.J. L 299, 16/11/2005, p. 0062-0070.

The vital reports related to the Brussels Convention, the Lugano Convention and the E.U. Regulation 44/2001 of 22/12 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcements in civil and commercial matters are (they does not appear in the online version of the Official Journal):

• Jenard Report no. 1 (1979), O.J. C59, 5/3/1979, p. 0001-0065.
• Jenard Report no. 2 (1979), O.J. C59, 5/3/1979, p. 0066-70.
• Schlosser Report (1978)O.J. C59, 5/3/1979, p. 0071-0151.
• Jenard-Möller Report (1990), O.J. C 198, 28/7/1990, p. 0057-00122.

Research-homepage for Henrik Spang-Hanssen.
Last updated: 25 October 2009.