Research guides
Encyclopaedias
Books — general texts
- European Union Law byPublication Date: 2013
- European Union explained byPublication Date: 2013
- European Union Law byPublication Date: 2018
- The foundations of European Union law byPublication Date: 2014
- Philosophical foundations of European Union law byPublication Date: 2013
- Steiner and Woods EU Law byPublication Date: 2014
- Understanding European Union Law byPublication Date: 2022
Databases
- World Journals (via Westlaw)Includes journal articles from multiple jurisdictions.
- Law Reviews and Journals (via LexisNexis)Full text journal database covering multiple jurisdictions.
- Westlaw UKContains UK and European legislation, case law, journal articles, and other secondary material.
Legislative materials
Constitutional law
Constitutional law- EUR-Lex: Founding treatiesEUR-Lex contains the founding, amending and accession treaties, as well as some protocols.
EU Legislation
EU Legislation- European Union Legislation (Westlaw)Full text of legislative acts of the Council of the European Union, the European Parliament, and the European Commission reported in the Official Journal of the European Community, L Series from 1952 onwards.
- Official Journal of the European UnionThe official compendium of EU legislation (L series) and other official documents of the EU institutions, bodies and agencies (C series and its supplements).
- EUR-Lex: LegislationSearch for or browse for binding legal instruments (regulations, directives and decisions), non-binding instruments (resolutions, opinions), or other instruments (EU institutions’ internal regulations, EU action programmes, etc.)
- EUR-Lex: Preparatory ActsDocuments used to prepare EU legislation, produced during the various stages of the legislative and budgetary process.
- EUR-Lex: Summaries of EU LegislationThe “Summaries of EU legislation” website presents the main aspects of European Union (EU) legislation in a concise, easy-to-read and unbiased way.
Bills and parliamentary material
Bills and parliamentary material- EUR-Lex: Legislative ProcedureFollow the life cycle of a legislative proposal from the moment it is launched until the final law is adopted.
- European ParliamentOfficial website of the European Parliament.
Case law
- EUR-LexContains international agreements, legislation, jurisprudence, national case law, and the Official Journal of the European Union.
- LexisNexis (International)Contains US and Canadian journal articles. Select Secondary Legal.
- Citing European Union Case LawRefer to this guide for explanations of how to cite European Union caselaw.
- European Court ReportsAvailable in hardcopy in the Library as as well as online via HeinOnline.
- The Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) websiteSearch for decisions of the European Union courts. Full-text unreported versions available from 1997. Decisions fully indexed from 1953.
- Common Market Law ReportsAvailable in hardcopy in the library and online via Westlaw International.
- Westlaw UKContains UK and European legislation, case law, journal articles, and other secondary material.
Major EU institutions
The major institutions of the European Union are:
- European CommissionIt drafts proposals for new European laws and it manages the day-to-day business of implementing EU policies and spending EU funds.
- European CouncilResponsible for deciding broad political priorities and major initiatives.
- Council of the European UnionPasses EU laws, signs agreements, develops the EU's foreign and defence policies, approves the EU budget, coordinates economic policies and co-operation.
- European ParliamentThe European Parliament has three main roles — debating and passing European laws, with the Council; scrutinising other EU institutions, particularly the Commission, to make sure they are working democratically; and debating and adopting the EU's budget, with the Council.
- European Central BankManages the euro — the EU's single currency — and safeguards price stability in the EU.
- European Court of JusticeEnsuring EU law is interpreted and applied the same in every EU country; ensuring countries and EU institutions abide by EU law.
- European Court of AuditorsAudits EU finances.