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European Union Legal Materials

The European Union is a supranational organization whose members include most countries of Western Europe (referred to as Member States). The principal offices of the EU are located in Brussels, Belgium, although other EU institutions have offices in Luxembourg, Frankfurt, Germany and Strasbourg, France.

Introduction to Law of the European Union ("EU") T.C. Hartley, The Foundations of European Community Law. Oxford University Press, 1998. 4^th

This book is a good introduction to the law of the European Union. Chapter 1 describes the legal basis for and function of the European Commission,the Council and the European Parliament. Chapter 2 describes the structure and function of the EU's judicial system — the European Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance. KJE947 .H27 1998

Ralph H. Folsom, European Union Law. West Publishing, 3^rd ed.

Contains an unofficial copy of the Consolidated version of the Treaty on European union (including amendments by the Amsterdam Treaty of 1999). Chapter 1 contains a concise summary of the development of the European Union.
KJE949 F64 1999 Law Reserve

European Union Law Reporter (formerly known as the Common Market Law Reporter). CCH, Inc.

Loose-leaf service providing commentary on EU law by topic, texts of treaties, and digests of relevant EU laws. Updated monthly. 5 volumes. KJE 2044 .6 C66

Klaus-Dieter Borchardt, The ABC of Community Law. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2000.

Brief summary of EU institutions and the sources of European Union law. JN 30 .G566 2000 Thomas Cooper Library Gov't Documents

Claire Germain, Germain's Transnational Law Research: A Guide for Attorneys.

Transnational Juris Publications, 1991 -. Section 2.09 contains information on EU legal materials. K 85 G47 Law Reference

Anne Ramsay, Eurojargon: A Dictionary of the European Union, 6^th ed. (2000)

Exhaustive list of acronyms used by EU agencies and officials. KJE926.5 E87 2000

Glossary: Institutions, policies and enlargement of the European Union. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2000.

A selective list of terms and concepts related to the EU. An updated version is available on the Web at http://europa.eu.int/scadplus/ KJE947 .B673 2000 Thomas Cooper Library Gov't Documents ed.

Principal Institutions of the EU

• Europa - http://europa.eu.int
• The official web page of the European Union and its portal to information resources online.
  
  
• European Parliament - www.europarl.eu.int
  
• This political assembly is directly elected by the citizens of the EU member states. Representation is roughly proportional to the population of the EU member states. The Parliament and the Council share legislative power within the EU.
  
  
• European Commission - http://europa.eu.int/Comm/index
  
• The Commission proposes new legislation and launches new policy initiatives. The Commission serves as the executive of the EU and enters into international agreements on behalf of the EU. In addition, the Commission is the guardian of EU policy and can initiate legal proceedings to ensure compliance with EU policy and legislation. The commission currently consists of 20 Commissioners who are selected by the Member States. Each commissioner has a separate portfolio — an area of policy concern. The staff of the Commission is organized into 34 Directorates-General which have distinct areas of responsibility.
  
  
• European Council
  
• Consisting of the heads of EU members, the European Council meets twice a year, usually in January and June. The President of the Council (having a six month term) hosts the Council meeting.
  
  
• The Council - http://ue.eu.int/en/summ.htm
  
• Composed of selected ministers from each Member State, the Council exercises legislative power along with the European Parliament.
  
  
• European Court of Justice - http://curia.eu.int/en/
  
• Consisting of 15 judges and 8 advocates-general, the Court of Justice interprets and adjudicates disputes over EU law, a separate body of law distinct and supreme over the law of the Member States. The judges are elected by common accord among the Member States.
  
  
• Court of First Instance
  
• Consisting of 15 judges, this intermediate appellate court also decides disputes regarding EU law. This court was created to alleviate delays in decided cases because of an increased number of filings.
  
  
• European Court of Auditors - www.eca.eu.int/en/menu.htm
• This body audits the accounts and implements the budget of the EU.
  
  
• European Central Bank - www.ecb.int
  
• Member States that meet certain economic criteria and standards join this central bank. The bank creates and implements monetary policy and is responsible for the issuance of the EU's common currency — the Euro.
  
  
• Index of EU Topics - www.eurunion.org/infores/euindex.htm
• Excellent alphabetical index of EU organizations, agencies and topics maintained by the Washington Delegation of the European Union

• Official site containing EU treaties http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/treaties/
  
  
• The current Consolidated Treaty is the result of the following constituent treaties: Treaty of Rome, Treaty of Maastricht, Treaty of Amsterdam and Treaty of Nice.
  
  
• Competition Law of the EC. Matthew Bender (Lexis Law Publishing).
  
• Loose-leaf service. Thorough discussion of EU founding treaty, organization and law, focusing on antitrust and competition law. Contains excerpts of the text of founding treaties. KJE 6456 .U35

Legislation

• Official Journal of the European Union
  
• KJE908.L445 L Series Thomas Cooper Library
  
  
• Journals from previous 60 days available on the Web. - http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/oj/
• The O.J. is divided into the L series (legislation), the C series (proposed legislation) and irregularly the S series (supplemental material). The O.J. is roughly analogous to the Federal Register in the United States.
  
  
• CELEX on Lexis/ Nexis
  
  
• EURCOM on Westlaw
  
• Searchable database of EU documents.

Judicial Opinions

• European Court of Justice - http://curia.eu.int
• Decisions since June 1997 available on the Web
  
  
• European Court Reports
  
• Official report of cases before the Court of Justice of the European Union.
  
• Thomas Cooper Library Gov't Documents
  
• KJE924 .5 .R47
• Holdings: 1954 to present
  
  
• European Community Cases (CCH)
  
• Selected European Commission and European Court of Justice decisions, including opinions of advocate-generals. Headnotes precede each case. Table of contents. Topic index. List of authorities cited.
  
• KJE 2044.6 .C6652
  
• Holdings: 1989 — present
  (formerly known as Common Market Reporter)
  
• KJE 2044.6 C66
  
• Holdings: 1977 through 1986
  
  
• Common Market Law Reports (Sweet & Maxwell)
  
• Selected cases from both the European Court of Justice and the appellate courts of individual member nations that resolve questions of European Union law. Weekly roundup of actions of the European Court of Justice. Published weekly.
  
• KJE2044.6.C5
  
• Holdings 1962 to present
  
  
• C.M.L.R. Antitrust Reports (Sweet & Maxwell)
  
• Focuses on European Union documents dealing with mergers, acquisitions, and antitrust issues. Summary of European Commission actions, status of cases before the European Commission and the European Court of Justice. Decisions of the European Court of Justice, European Commission decisions. List of Cases Reported. Index.
  
• KJE 2044.6 C5
  
• Holdings 1991 — present.

Official Publications

• Bulletin of the European Union (formerly known as the Bulletin of the European Communities)
• Published by the European Commission
• HC241.2 .A212 Thomas Cooper Library
• Issues sine 1996 available in Eurolex on the Web
  
• http://europa.eu.int/abc/doc/off/bull/en/bullset.htm

• General Report on the Activities of the Union
• Annual
• Issues since 1997 available on Europa
• Summaries of 1995 and 1996 reports available on Europa
  
• http://europa.eu.int/abc/doc/off/rg/en/rgset.htm
• AC241 .2 .A17
• Holdings 1994-2000

• Publications of the European Communities.
• The catalog of publications published by the EU and its constituent agencies.
• Z7165 .E86 D34 Thomas Cooper Library Gov't Documents
• Holdings 1993-1998, 1985/1991

Periodicals/ Journals

• Europe
• Monthly magazine
• HD9525 .A2 E52 Thomas Cooper Library — USC
• HD9525 .A2 E52 Business - USC
  
• www.eurunion.org/magazine/home.htm
• Tables of contents for issues since 1996 are available on the Web. Selected full-text articles are also available.

• Common Market Law Review
• Quarterly journal
• USC Law
• Holdings 1963 - present

• European Law Review
• Bimonthly journal
• USC Law
• Holdings 1975 - present

• EU Focus: Essential Developments in EU Law and Policy
• Biweekly journal
• KJE2041 .3 .E32
• Topical summaries of EU legal developments.

• Journal of Common Market Studies
• Quarterly
• USC Law
• Holdings 1962 — present.

• Legal Issues of European Integration
• Two Issues per year
• USC Law
• Holdings 1974 — 1999. Ceased publication 1999.

• Yearbook of European Law
• Oxford University Press
• Holdings 1981 — present (Vol. 11 1991 missing)
• K29 .E27

• European Journal of International Law - www.ejil.org
• Contains systematic coverage of the relationship between international law and EU law.
• Issues since 1990 available on the Web.

• European Integration Current Contents - www.law.harvard.edu/programs/JeanMonnet/TOC/
• Contains tables of contents from selected international law journals.
• Published by the Academy of European Law of the European University Institute, Florence, Italy.

• Jean Monnet Working Papers - www.jeanmonnetprogram.org
• Information on EU law and politics, conferences, and research papers.
• Sponsored by the Jean Monnet Chair of the Harvard Law School

Other Web Research Guides

• Georgetown University
• Edward Bennett Williams Law Library
• Researching the European Union
• www.ll.georgetown.edu/intl/euguidepage.htm
  

• Harvard Law School
• Guide to European Union Legal Research — Documentation Sources
• http://www.law.harvard.edu/library/ref/ils_ref/eu_guide/eu_legal_research_doc_source.htm

• Annotated Guide of EU Web Sites
•  http://www.law.harvard.edu/library/ref/ils_ref/annotated/eu.htm
  
  

• New York University Law Library
• European Union, European Commission — Web Guide
• http://www.law.nyu.edu/library/foreign_intl/european.html
  
  

• American Society for International Law
• ASIL Guide to Electronic Resources for International Law
• www.asil.org/resource/home.htm
• Click on International Economic Law, then on Regional Economic Integration, then scroll down to the European Union section.
  

• European Commission Delegation, Washington, D.C.
• Best European Union Law Websites
• www.eurunion.org/infores/BestLawSites.HTM