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European Union Internet Resources

EU Institutions and Bodies: The Council | The Commission |The Courts | The Parliament | Financial Bodies | Community Agencies | The Regions | Miscellaneous

EU By Subject: General | Business | Enlargement | External Relations | Information & Technology | Legislation | Research Centers & Archives

EU Documents by Type : Catalogs | Documents and Publications |Journals | Newspapers & Periodicals | Press Releases | Treaties | Notable Documents

Other Items of Interest : EU Government Directories | EU Documentation Centers |Regional Resources | University Links | Miscellaneous



EU Institutions and Bodies

The Council | The Commission |The Courts |The Parliament| Financial Bodies | Community Agencies| Regional Information | Miscellaneous

The Council

Council of the European Union. Main decision-making institution of the EU, comprised of ministers from each member state. The Council passes laws jointly with the European Parliament. The council also negotiates international agreements and makes decisions on foreign and economic policy.

Council Documents including the searchable Council Register

Current Presidency (Slovenia)

European Security and Defense Policy


The Commission

European Commission. EU institution that proposes legislation to Parliament and the Council, administers and implements Community policies, enforces Community law (jointly with the Court of Justice) and negotiates international agreements.

President of the European Commission

Representatives from Member States

Directorates General and Services. The Commission is divided into departments known as Directorates-General similar to government ministries. Each Directorate-General is supervised by a civil servant who reports directly to the Commissioner. In addition, there are other services and offices within the commission that perform various administrative functions:

Directorates General

Agriculture and Rural Development Informatics
Budget Information Society and Media 
Competition Internal Audit Service
Development Internal Market and Services
Economic and Financial Affairs Interpretation
Education and Culture Justice, Freedom and Security
Employment and Social Affairs Personnel and Administration
Enlargement Regional Policy
Enterprise and Industry Research
Environment Taxation and Customs Union
Fisheries and Maritime Affairs Translation 
Health and Consumer Protection Transport and Energy

 

Services and Offices

Bureau of European Policy Advisers Infrastructures and Logistics - Luxembourg
EuropeAid - Co-operation Office Joint Research Centre
European Anti-Fraud Office Legal Service
Eurostat Press and Communication
Humanitarian Aid Office - ECHO Publications Office
Infrastructures and Logistics - Brussels Secretariat General


Unified External Service of the European Commission. Links to EU Delegation web sites, including the EU Delegation of the United States.



The Courts

Court of Auditors. Institution monitoring the financial accounts of the European Union.

Court of Justice. The Court of Justice of the European Communities ensures that EU legislation is interpreted and applied consistently across EU countries. Texts of judgments since June 1997 are available on the site

Court of First Instance. Court with jurisdiction to hear and determine at first instance all direct actions brought by individuals and the Member States.



The Parliament

European Parliament. Parliamentary institution of the EU, directly elected by EU citizens. Together with the Council, it comprises the legislative branch of the institutions of the Union.

 

European Parliament Policy Department Publications. Database of documents produced by EP Policy Departments (and previously by the former Directorate-General for Research).

Legislative Observatory (OEIL). Database with references for procedures and documents of institutions involved in the inter-institutional legislative procedure relating to the work of the European Parliament.

Parliamentary Questions. Database of questions posed by the European Parliament to the Council and the Commission, searchable by author, political group, etc.



Financial Bodies

European Central Bank. The ECB is the central bank for Europe's single currency, the euro. The ECB is responsible for maintaining the euro's purchasing power and price stability in the euro area. See the ECB statistical publications.

European Investment Bank. The EU's financing institution. Raises funds for capital projects according with the objectives of the Union.

European Investment Fund. Venture capital and guarantees agency of the EU.




Community Agencies

EU Community Agencies are bodies set up by an act of secondary legislation in order to accomplish a specific technical, scientific or managerial task which is specified by EU Public Law. There are currently sixteen EU Community Agencies:


Common Foreign and Security Policy Agencies



Police and Judicial Agencies




The Regions

Committee of the Regions. Body of representatives of regional and local governments working to increase participation of European regions in EU community life. Functions as a consultative body, and is asked for opinions on policies and legislation. Includes six commissions:


Electronic Documents Register (EDR)
. Public registry of documents of the Committee of the regions, relating to consultative and decision-making procedures at the various stages of their production.

Regional Policy Information on EU action in support of regional development. See key documents.

Toad Database. (Transfer of Administrative Documents). Selected committee of the regions working documents, draft opinion, minutes, etc.




Miscellaneous

European Ombudsman. Mean by which European citizens can seek redress when maladministration occurs within European Union Institutions or bodies.

European Data Protection Supervisor. Body responsible for the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data.

European Economic and Social Committee. Non-political body that gives representatives of Europe's socio-occupational interest groups, and others, a formal platform to express their points of views on EU issues.

Western European Union. Mostly dormant European defense and security organization established by the Brussels treaty of 1948 and composed of states who are members of both NATO and the EU.


The EU by Subject

General | Business | Enlargement | External Relations | Information & Technology | Legislation | Research Centers & Archives |

General

Europa Server. Main gateway site for EU information. See also "What's New" or Search the server. See also the General Subject Page.

Delegation to the European Union Commission of the USA. Includes a list of EU depositories in the USA.

Agriculture Fisheries
Audiovisual and Media Food Safety
Budget Foreign and Security Policy
Competition Fraud
Consumers Gender Equality
Culture Humanitarian aid
Customs Human rights
Development Information Society
Economic and Monetary Affairs Institutional affairs
Education, Training, Youth Internal Market
Employment and Social Affairs Justice, freedom and security
Energy Public Health
Enlargement Regional Policy
Enterprise Research and Innovation
Environment Space Coordination
External Relations Taxation
External Trade Transportation
















 








Business

ADAM: Système Administratif et Documentaire des Achats et Marchés (In French). Database with data related to market research done by external consultants. Every piece of research can be identified by a descriptive card containing title, summary, etc.

Dialogue with Business. Information on rights and opportunities in running a business in the EU Internal Market

Eironline European Industrial Relations Observatory online from the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions

Euro Server. Server with exhaustive information on the EU currency.

The Federation of European Employers. HR resources for companies operating across Europe.

Harmonised Standards for Business and Industry

Market Access Database. Information about Market Access conditions in non-EU countries.

Taxation and Customs Union Databases. Site developed by the European Commission's Taxation and Customs Union. Includes information on tariffs, quotas, customs regulations, etc.

SIMAP. Background information, links and tools for public purchasers and businesses interested in public procurement opportunities in Europe.


TED (Tenders Electronic Daily). Database for European calls for tender (business opportunities) published in the Official Journal, Supplement S.

Your Europe Portal. Provides detailed practical information on citizen rights and opportunities in the EU and its Internal Market.





Enlargement

Accession Process and Documents. From ScadPlus. Information and documents on candidate countries and new member states.

Directorate General for Enlargement.

European Integration Online Papers. Peer reviewed e-journal in the field of European integration.

Enlargement Web site. Gateway site to EU enlargement issues and information: countries, negotiations, research, etc. Includes Regular Reports from Candidate and Acceding Countries.

Enlargement Research Bulletin
. Monthly bulletin with abstracts of publications concerning the enlargement of the EU.




External Relations

Common Foreign and Security Policy. Information on Europes Common Foreign Policy as provided for in the Maastricht, Amstersdam and Nice treaties.

External Relations Web site. Gateway site providing information on countries and organizations with which the EU has established formal relations, as well as EU foreign policy information.

EU in the World. Hosted by the European Commission. Gateway site with links and information on EU foreign policy, enlargement, trade, development, etc.

The EU's Mediterranean & Middle East Policy including a link to the EU Position on the Middle East Peace Process.



Information & Technology

European Information Society Website. Gateway site on the legal issues of the EU information market.

Informatics Directorate. Defines IT strategy for the Commission and provides EU information technology and telecommunications infrastructure.

Openness and Access to Documents. Guide for the search for Commission documents.

Telematics for Libraries. Core information on the work carried out by the European Commission in the libraries.



Legislation

Bulletin of the European Union. Monthly digest of the activities of the European Commission and of the other Community institutions. Supplemented by the annual General Report on the Activities of the European Union

CELEX: Access to European Union law. Comprehensive source of European Union law, offering full-text of European Union legislation, preparatory documents, case law of the European Court of Justice, treaties, and parliamentary questions.

Commission Documents (COM Documents). Proposals for legislation, included as part of the Eur-Lex database.

European Environmental Law Homepage

Eur-Lex. Primary database for European Union law and legislation. Includes the Official Journal of the European Union, regulations, decisions, directives, treaties, consolidated versions of legislation, and judgments by the EU Court of Justice. For information prior to 2005, go to the CELEX database

FORUM: European Forum for Official Gazettes. Information on EU Member States' official gazettes (national legal journals) including links to online issues.

Legislative Observatory (OEIL). Database with references for procedures and documents of all the institutions involved in the interinstitutional legislative procedure and for those relating to the work of the European Parliament.

N-Lex: Common Gateway to European National Law. Common access portal for sources of national law for European Union Countries. Developed by the Office for Official Publications of the European Communities.

Official Journal of the European Union. Main legislative information resource for the EU. Includes summaries of court judgements, minutes of parliament, regulations, directives, opinions, and much more. Searchable online via Eurlex. See also the Supplement "Public Procurement Notices (TED Database).

Parliamentary Questions. Database of questions posed by the European Parliament to the Council and the Commission, searchable by author, political group, etc.

PreLex
. Database for monitoring the decision making process between EU institutions. Difficult to use - important for tracking the history process of EU legislation.

SCADPlus. Summaries of EU official legislation. Very useful site for overviews of key EU issues on a wide range of topics.




Research Centers and Archives

Archive of European Integration. From the University of Pittsburgh. Electronic repository and archive for documents on European integration and unification.


CORDIS
. Community Research and Development Information Service. Gateway for EU sponsored scientific and technical R&D:


European Union Research Gateway
. Gateway to news and information about Scientific Research and Technological Development in the European Union. See also the information centre.


The European University Institute
. Provides advanced academic training to Ph.D students and promotes European Community research in history, law, economics, political and social science.


EU Historical Archives
. See also the Archisplus historical archives database and EURHISTAR.

Intergovernmental Conferences (IGC)


History of European Union. History of the EU integration process.


EU Documents by Type

Catalogs | Documents and Publications |Journals | Newspapers & Periodicals | Press Releases | Treaties | Notable Documents |


Catalogs

Alphabetical Subject Index from the Commission and a thematic index from Europarl.

ECLAS. European Commission Library Catalogue from the Libraries site. ECLAS is available in French and English. Includes the complete database of 350,000+ records and links to many docu 09/26/2011 MENT COLLECTIONS ----->



Documents and Publications

European Constitution Web site. Treaty establishing a constitution for Europe.

Eur-Lex Documents by Category. Includes "documents of public interest," green papers, white papers, etc.

European Council Summits. Council summit documents from 1985.

European Parliament Policy Department Publications. Documents produced by the Policy Departments (and previously by the former Directorate-General for Research) over the last five years.

The European Commission: Official Documents. Includes Green Papers (papers published by the Commission on a specific policy area) and White Papers (documents with proposals for Community action in a specific area).

Eurostat.  (Some Features UCB Only). Publications and statistics from the EU. (Logon permits enhanced downloads. Ask at the Doe Reference Desk or contact the International Documents Librarian).

Glossaries & Dictionaries


Office for Official Publications of the European Communities
. Publishing office of the institutions and other bodies of the European Union.

 


EU Journals




Newspapers and Periodicals






Treaties

Eur-Lex Treaty Site. Searchable site with basic legal texts on which the European Union and the European Communities are founded.

European Union, Selected instruments taken from the treaties
(A collection of EU Treaties)

Treaty on European Union [Maastricht Treaty]

Amsterdam: A new Treaty for Europe ES, DA, DE, FR, IT, NL, PT, FI, SV

The Amsterdam Treaty: a Comprehensive Guide

Treaty of Nice

Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe.




Notable Documents

Access to Commission Documents, A Citizen's Guide

EU History at a Glance

Convergence Report and Recommendation 25 March 1998.

Mainstreaming of Environmental Policy. Cologne Report on Environmental Integration

Charter of fundamental rights of the EU. Text as signed by the Presidents of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission at Nice on 7 December 2000.

Committee of Independent Experts: Reports on commission reform

Handbook for Implementation of EU Environmental Legislation

Memorandum by the EU at the 54th UN General Assembly

Official Documents on Peace-Building and Conflict Prevention

Reforming the Commission

State Aid. Documents from the DG on competition.

White paper on growth, competitiveness and employment - The challenges and ways forward into the 21st century




Other Items of Interest

EU Government Directories | EU Documentation Centers |Regional Resources | University Links | Miscellaneous Information

EU Government Directories

Foreign Governments. Via Northwestern University

Foreign Ministries of EU Member States . From the European Commission.

European Governments on the WWW
. By Gunnar Anzinger

European Governments on line. List of EU member states, candidate countries, and other European Countries. From the EU Server

European Search Engines, Directories and Lists.

IDEA - Who's Who in the European Union. Electronic directory for EU institutions, bodies, agencies, and individuals.

International Organization Web Sites. From the Union of International Associations, the Yearbook of International Organizations

Unified External Service of the European Commission. Comprehensive listing of EU delegation sites, addresses, and contact information around the world. Links to over 124 countries and organizations.



EU Documentation Centres and Depositories

Delegation to the European Union Commission of the USA. List of EU depositories in the US along with an excellent subject guide to EU issues.

Europe Near You. Links to European Documentation Centres - Information about the Community at universities and research institutes

Euro Info Centres. Information and advice to assist businesses on Community issues.



Regional Resources

Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe

Council of European Municipalities and Regions

Inforegio: European Regional Development Fund & Cohesion Fund



University links and Research Guides

Cornell Law Research Guide.

Euro Internet. Virtual Library for European Integration.

History of European Integration Site. By Richard T. Griffiths, Leiden University.

Princeton University. By Duncan Alford.

University of Exeter. By Patrick Overy.

University of Mannheim, EDC

University of Pittsburgh. By Phil Witkin.



Miscellaneous Resources

Countdown. Online information, documentation and communication centre on the EU's eastern enlargement.

House of Commons Library Research Papers including Institutional Reform in the EU 99/54, 20 May 1999

House of Lords Select Committee on the European Communities

Organizations Focusing on West European Studies/European Union Center, University of Pittsburgh

Web Sites on National Parliaments