Documentary holdings
of the European Union law
AL
Documentary holdings
of the European Union Law
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The treaties
International agreements
Secondary legislation
Consolidated legislation
Preparatory material
Case-law
Parliamentary questions
1. The treaties
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The treaties constitute the European Union’s ‘primary
legislation’, which is comparable to constitutional law at
national level.
They thus lay down the fundamental features of the Union, in
particular the responsibilities of the various actors in the
decision-making process, the legislative procedure under the
Community system and the powers conferred on them.
The treaties themselves are the subject of direct negotiations
between the governments of the Member States, after which
they have to be ratified in accordance with the procedures
applying at national level (in principle by the national
parliaments or by referendum).
The treaties - II
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Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe
Treaty establishing the European Community (EC Treaty)
Treaty on European Union (EU Treaty)
Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community
Accession Treaties
Other treaties and protocols
– Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community
– Single European Act
– Treaty of Amsterdam
– Treaty of Nice
– Other treaties and protocols are available in EUR-Lex for
documentation purposes
2. International agreements
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International agreements are the second source of EU law, allowing
the European Union to develop its economic, social and political
relations with the rest of the world.
These are always agreements concluded between subjects of
international law (Member States or organisations) for the purpose of
establishing cooperation at international level.
Agreements concluded by the European Union under the first pillar
are binding on the institutions of the Union and the Member States;
those concluded by the Union under the second and third pillars are
binding on the institutions but not always on the Member States.
The international agreements comprise two main types of
agreement:
– international agreements with third countries or international
organisations,
– agreements and conventions between the Member States.
3. Secondary legislation
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The ‘secondary legislation’ is the third major source of Community
law after the treaties (primary legislation) and international
agreements. It can be defined as the totality of the legislative
instruments adopted by the European institutions pursuant to the
provisions of the treaties.
Secondary legislation comprises
– the binding legal instruments (regulations, directives and
decisions) and
– non-binding instruments (resolutions, opinions) provided for in
the EC Treaty, together with a whole series of other instruments
such as the institutions’ internal regulations and Community
action programmes.
The legal instruments associated with the second and third pillars,
which do not, strictly speaking, form part of secondary legislation
since they continue to be governed by intergovernmental relations,
have been included in this category for reasons of proper
documentation.
3. Secondary legislation
3.1. Regulation
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Adopted by the Council in conjunction with the European Parliament
or by the Commission alone, a regulation is a general measure that
is binding in all its parts. Unlike directives which are addressed to the
Member States, and decisions ,which are for specified recipients,
regulations are addressed to everyone.
A regulation is directly applicable, which means that it creates law
which takes immediate effect in all the Member States in the same
way as a national instrument, without any further action on the part
of the national authorities.
3. Secondary legislation
3.2. Directive
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Adopted by the Council in conjunction with the European Parliament
or by the Commission alone, a directive is addressed to the Member
States. Its main purpose is to align national legislation.
A directive is binding on the Member States as to the result to be
achieved but leaves them the choice of the form and method they
adopt to realise the Community objectives within the framework of
their internal legal order.
If a directive has not been transposed into national legislation in a
Member State, if it has been transposed incompletely or if there is a
delay in transposing it, citizens can directly invoke the directive in
question before the national courts.
3. Secondary legislation
3.3. Decision
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Adopted either by the Council, by the Council in conjunction with the
European Parliament or by the Commission, a decision is the
instrument by which the Community institutions give a ruling on a
particular matter.
By means of a decision, the institutions can require a Member State
or a citizen of the Union to take or refrain from taking a particular
action, or confer rights or impose obligations on a Member State or a
citizen.
3. Secondary legislation
3.4. Other instruments
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Recommendation
– A recommendation allows the institutions to make their views
known and to suggest a line of action without imposing any legal
obligation on those to whom it is addressed (the Member States,
other institutions, or in certain cases the citizens of the Union).
Opinion
– An opinion is an instrument that allows the institutions to make a
statement in a non-binding fashion, in other words without
imposing any legal obligation on those to whom it is addressed.
The aim is to set out an institution’s point of view on a question.
Joint action (common foreign and security policy)
Joint action (police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters)
Decision, framework decision and joint action (police and judicial
cooperation in criminal matters)
Common position (common foreign and security policy and police
and judicial cooperation in criminal matters)
International agreements (common foreign and security policy and
police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters)
4. Consolidated legislation
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Consolidation consists of incorporating into a single text, with no official
authenticity, a basic instrument (a Treaty or piece of Community legislation)
and the amendments and corrections subsequently made to it. A
consolidated version of the Treaty establishing the European Community is
available in EUR-Lex.
All the secondary legislation in force has been consolidated and can be
consulted in EUR-Lex. These texts are intended to be used purely for
documentation purposes, and the institutions do not accept any liability for
their content.
On the basis of consolidated texts, the Commission may undertake a
legislative consolidation or recasting. Legislative consolidation consists of
getting the consolidated text, with a certain amount of redrafting, adopted
through a legislative procedure. The new text is then published in the
Official Journal as a legislative instrument and becomes authentic.
The Commission can also take the initiative of recasting a text where it
considers it necessary to thoroughly overhaul the legislation in a particular
field. In that case it launches a new legislative procedure.
5. Preparatory material
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Preparatory act
– Legislative proposals and opinions from the Commission Member States’
initiative
– Council common position
– European Parliament’s legislative resolution
Other documents from the institutions
– Commission communication
 White Papers, which contain a set of proposals for action by the
Community in a particular field. They sometimes follow on from
Green Papers, the purpose of which is to launch a consultation
process at European level. If a White Paper is favourably received
by the Council, it can lead, if appropriate, to an EU action
programme in the field concerned.
 Green Papers, which are intended to stimulate thinking and launch
consultation at European level on a particular subject. The
consultations resulting from a Green Paper can then lead to the
publication of a White Paper that will propose a set of concrete
measures for Community action.
– Report from the European Court of Auditors
6. Case-law
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Judgments
– The Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance hand down judgments, which are
decisions that conclude a litigation procedure. There is no appeal against judgments of the
Court of Justice. An appeal against a judgment of the Court of First Instance can be brought
before the Court of Justice.
Opinions
– The European Parliament, the Council, the Commission or a Member State can seek the
opinion of the Court of Justice on whether an agreement between the Community and nonmember countries or international organisations is compatible with the provisions of the EC
Treaty.
Orders
– The Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance issue orders in a variety of instances, as
laid down in the Rules of Procedure, which fall broadly into three groups:
 instances during the investigation of a case (for example, acts ordering the
preservation of evidence, or separating, joining or suspending cases);
 instances where the Court takes a decision without considering the substance of the
case (for example, in the event of manifest inadmissibility of the case or lack of
jurisdiction);
 instances where the Court takes a decision on the substance of the case; here, the
orders are in fact simplified judgments that are used when the case is identical to
others on which a judgment has already been handed down.
– Orders can in principle be amended or revoked.
Submissions of the advocates-general
– In these submissions the advocate-general proposes a solution to the dispute, but the
submissions do not bind the judges. They are an integral part of the oral procedure and are
published together with the judgment in the Court Reports.
7. Parliamentary questions
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Parliamentary questions represent a way for Members of Parliament
to keep a check on the activities of the Commission and the Council.
Each Member of Parliament can address to the Council and the
Commission:
– written questions (requesting a written reply),
– oral questions (asked in the chamber) and
– questions during Question Time (the period reserved for
questions in each part-session of Parliament).
These questions are a much-used means of keeping check. The
written questions and the replies given are published in the Official
Journal, C series. They are incorporated into EUR-Lex.