Twenty-seven European nations have established among themselves a European Union (EU), on which they have conferred competences to attain certain common objectives. These objectives include the promotion of peace, the well-being of its peoples, and the promotion of certain common values: respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. The EU also aims to offer European citizens an area of freedom, security and justice without internal frontiers, and an economically healthy and sustainable internal market. The Union set up an economic and monetary union whose currency is the euro. The Union also developed a common foreign and security policy. In its relations with the wider world, the Union proclaims to uphold and promote its values and interests and contribute to the protection of its citizens. The Union has an institutional framework at its disposal, which has the task to promote the EU ‘s values, advance the EU’s objectives, and serve the interests of the EU citizens and Member States, both within and outside Europe. The EU’s legislative organs are the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union. The executive organ is the European Council. The European Commission oversees the application of Union law by Member States, and the Court of Justice of the European Union, being the EU’s judicial organ, ensures that Member States correctly apply EU law. The European Central Bank maintains the euro’s purchasing power and oversees price stability in the euro zone.
This Research Guide is intended as a starting point for research on the European Union. It provides the basic legal materials available in the Peace Palace Library, both in print and electronic format. Handbooks, leading articles, bibliographies, periodicals, serial publications and documents of interest are presented in the Selective Bibliography section. Links to the PPL Catalogue are inserted. The Library’s classification index code European Union in General and subject heading (keyword) European Union are instrumental for searching through the Catalogue. Special attention is given to our subscriptions on databases, e-journals, e-books and other electronic resources. Finally, this Research Guide features links to relevant websites and other online resources of particular interest.
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Electronic book available in library.
Europees recht De NMa en de Nza in de curatieve zorg Between autonomy and dependence European consumer protection EU energy law European agencies Derecho privado de internet La Unión Europea, los países de América latina y el Caribe La gouvernance économique de l'Union européenne Europarecht Das EU-Kartellrecht im Kraftfeld der Unionsziele Der Einfluss des Europarechts auf die mitgliedstaatliche Glücksspielregulierung Le rẻglement "insolvabilité" La loi du pays d'origine en droit de l'Union européenne Le recours en carence en droit de l'Union européenne/ Safia Cazet Between autonomy and dependence These publications are selected for you by .
This book addresses the increasingly contested issue of profound political importance: Europe’s presence in multilateral institutions. It assesses both the evolving role of Europe in international institutions, and the transformations in international institutions themselves. The book is divided into six parts. Part I examines the EU’s diplomatic and legal personality in international relations that constitutes the internal foundation for the EU’s engagement with international institutions. Part II assesses how EU multilateralism intersects with other international institutions and provides a means to assess the performance of international institutions as well as the EU itself in multilateral processes. Part III focuses on the EU’s participation with key institutions within the general UN system, such as the UN Security Council and the Human Rights Council as well as specific policy domains such as human rights across UN institutions. Part IV focuses on EU relations with wide range of international organizations in a variety of fields, from organizations in economic and security realms to environmental institutions and specialized agencies. Part V focuses on the EU’s engagement in a broad spectrum of issue-specific international agreements and international regimes, addressing issues such as non-proliferation of WMDs, climate change, information technology, and the emerging Gx-system (G7, G8, G20 etc). Part VI examines broader contextual factors that influence the relationship between the EU and international institutions, including the evolution of multilateralism, the trans-Atlantic relationship, global norms and the emergence of multipolarity. this book will be of great interest to students and scholars of European politics, the EU’s external relations, international relations, international organizations and international political economy.
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This book builds on the discourse in European Union constitutionalism in order to offer a novel analysis of the EU’s constitutional developments.Giuseppe Martinico sets out a unique account of EU constitutionalism which argues that the EU legal order is a complex entity which shares some features with natural systems. The book is soundly anchored in the theory and methodology of legal science and based on a deep knowledge of judicial practices. The author contends that Europe is still suffering from the failure of the Constitutional Treaty and is practicing the new institutional equilibrium afforded by the coming into force of the Reform Treaty. The book goes on to explore the methodological implications of such constitutional complexity for the study of EU law. The Tangled Complexity of the EU Constitutional Process will be of particular interest to academics and students in the disciplines of Law, International Relations and Political Science.
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In this book – intended for everyone interested in EU decision making – two main research questions will be answered. Firstly, what is the relationship between the European Council and the other EU institutions? Secondly, what are the various roles of the European Council in the EU decision-making process? The results of this research will show that European Council conclusions have been used extensively in this decision-making process, and this has increased considerably over time. Based on the analysis of European Council conclusions and legal texts a typology is created to provide an orderly picture of the European Council’s various roles, such as the European Council as a political initiator, as an interpreter of the Treaties and as an appeals council.
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This comprehensive and insightful book discusses in detail the many innovations and shortcomings of the historic Lisbon version of the Treaty on European Union and what is now called the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Divided into six parts, the 23 chapters provide ‘after Lisbon’ perspectives on law and governance of the EU, its powers and nature, the Charter on Fundamental Rights, EU external action and policy, justice and criminal policy, and economic governance. The authors, drawn from eleven EU Member States, offer a uniquely diverse and extensive coverage of the new EU law and policy after Lisbon. While the book argues that the Treaty of Lisbon has to be considered a milestone in the history of European integration, its shortcomings and open questions will make a future major treaty inevitable. The Lisbon Treaty and the Future of European Law and Policy will appeal to postgraduate students and academics in European law and policy, EU institutions, diplomatic missions, lobbying, NGOs, specialised lawyers and governments.
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Mathijsen presents an overview of the EU’s institutions, their functions and the substantive law. Covering the whole gambit of EU law, this text is uncluttered by technical references. References to source material accompany the text.
Mathijsen, 2010
Wyatt & Dashwood presents detailed commentary and analysis of the European Union and its substantive law.
This eagerly awaited new edition has been significantly revised after extensive user feedback to meet current teaching requirements. The first major textbook to be published since the rejuvenation of the Lisbon Treaty, it retains the best elements of the first edition – the engaging, easily understandable writing style, extracts from a variety of sources showing the creation, interpretation and application of the law and comprehensive coverage. In addition it has separate chapters on EU law in national courts, governance and external relations reflecting the new directions in which the field is moving. The examination of the free movement of goods and competition law has been restructured.… more » Chapter introductions clearly set out what will be covered in each section allowing students to approach complex material with confidence and detailed further reading sections encourage further study. Put simply, it is required reading for all serious students of EU law.
Damian Chalmers, 2010Droit UE online contains all documents published by the European Communities since 1951. It includes treaties, international agreements, legislation published in the Journal of the European Union L series, the national implementing measures, travaux préparatoires, opinions, recommendations, resolutions, jurisprudence, the Journal of the European Union C series, communications and information, parliamentary questions, etc. The English version is OJ OnlinePlus.
EUR-Lex provides free access to European Union law and other documents considered to be public. The collection include treaties, international agreements, legislation in force, preparatory acts, case-law and parliamentary questions.
European Judicial Network in Civil and Commercial Matters (EJN) is a website managed by the European Commission and contains a large quantity of information about the Member States, on several aspects of civil and commercial law and community law.
OJ Online is the leading database in the field of EU law, based on EUR-Lex, the official database of the European Union. OJ Online also contains documents published by the issuing institutions, even if they are not published in the official publications. The database is fully cross-referenced EU legal materials and contains documents from 1951 to present day: Treaties and International Agreements, Official Journal L & C records fully indexed, cross-referenced and updated daily, National measures implementing EU directives from all member states, Case law (all cases before the ECJ and CFI updated on a daily basis), Consolidated legislation, Preparatory documents, Commission proposals, legislative resolutions, opinions, Council common positions, Commission decisions (from prior notification to published decision collected daily from the website of the Competition Commission), EFTA documents, judgments, agreements from the EFTA institutions, Press releases, public register documents, agendas, minutes and other publications from the principle EU bodies, EU Web directory (a unique and growing collection of nearly 2000 searchable EU websites). The French version is Droit UE Online.
As a young democracy the EU urgently needs to strengthen its legitimacy and accountability. The transition from a traditional union of nation states to a polity of citizens and member states requires a fundamental adjustment of governance structures. The primordial challenge for the coming decades is therefore to address the democratic deficit and to turn the EU into a living democracy.
Read moreOn June 28th 2011 Peter Kooijmans participated in a conference about the place of the EU in international law, which was held in the Academy Hall of the Peace Palace under the auspices of the T.M.C. Asser Instituut and the Carnegie Foundation. According to a blog on this website, one of the participants started the debate on the presumption that ‘the EU is a thing for which lawyers have no name’.
Read moreIn his long-awaited speech on Europe British Prime Minister David Cameron criticised the EU for its lack of democracy. PM Cameron is right insofar as the citizens of the EU can’t elect their own European government and miss the power to vote their leaders out of office. However, Cameron’s criticism would only be justified if the EU were to be considered as a sovereign state like the UK, France or Germany.
Read moreEuropean Council President Herman Van Rompuy or Jose-Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission or Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament? Together they will fly to Oslo on December 10 to represent the main institutions of the EU at the acceptance ceremony for the Nobel Peace Prize 2012.
Read moreFor decades, the debate about the future of the European Union has been dominated by the dilemma whether the EU was to become a federal state or should establish itself as a union of states. After the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, however, it may be suggested that the deadlock in the debate about the finalité politique has been broken. The gist of this blog is to argue that the Lisbon Treaty construes the EU as a democracy without turning the Union into a state. This conclusion can be underpinned as follows.
Read moreIn the last twenty years, the Internet has had a tremendous impact on society and the term “Internet governance” was introduced. At first it was mainly used to describe the technical management of the Internet such as domain names and internet protocols. Nowadays governance refers to questions like “Do we all accept our responsibilities to safeguard the continued development of the Internet as a global, open and safe virtual environment? and Who sets the rules? In this blog I will give a few highlights of the current developments of internet governance on an International and (as well as on) an European level.
Read moreOn June 28, 2011 a conference was held about The European Union (hereafter EU) as a Polity in International Law at the Academy Hall of the Peace Palace, The Hague, The Netherlands. The conference was held at the initiative of Mr. Jaap Hoeksma, Director of Euroknow. This initiative was supported by Dr P. H. Kooijmans, Prof Dr L-J Brinkhorst, Dr W.F. van Eekelen, Dr W.van Gerven and Dr Th. van Boven.
The theme of the conference was the legal status of the European Union and its relationship with international law.From its inception, the main goal of the European Union and its integration in the legal as well as political systems of the Member states has been faced with conceptual problems regarding the final goal of the establishment of the European Union. The purpose of the conference was to discuss whether the Lisbon Treaty has overcome the problems by constructing the EU as a democratic polity without turning the Union into a state. If so, what are the consequences for the place of the EU as a polity in international law and for its role in international relations?
Read moreOn Friday 11 March 2011, Japan was struck by a devastating earthquake and tsunami, also known as the Tōhoku earthquake. Japan’s nuclear crisis that was caused by the earthquake and tsunami has so far evoked many questions and worries about the safety of nuclear energy just like the Chernobyl disaster evoked responses in the 1980s. It raises questions about the possible impact of nuclear energy industry on safety and health. Several European countries have discussed the use of nuclear energy and safety measures or have temporarily shut down nuclear reactors since the Japanese earthquake of 11 March 2011.
Read moreOn October 2, 2010, the 11th and final round of the negotiations for the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) was concluded successfully in Tokyo, Japan. The Government of Japan hosted the negotiations. Participants in the negotiations included Australia, Canada, the European Union (EU) – represented by the European Commission and the EU Presidency (Belgium) and the [...]
Read moreIn July 2010, The French government decided to begin to expel Roma’s, mainly from Romania and Bulgaria, as many of them were living in France illegally. This decision caused much controversy within the Institutions of the EU. This blog will briefly discuss in what way EU institutions have responded to recent Roma issues and what can be done to improve the position of this marginalized community in Europe.
Read moreOn 14 October 2009 the European Commission adopted its annual strategy document explaining its policy on EU enlargement. The document includes also a summary of the progress made over the last twelve months by each candidate and potential candidate: Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, as well as Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, [...]
Read moreCounterfeiting, which represents 5 to 7% of world trade, has implications on the competitiveness of EU companies, on jobs and on the health and security of EU citizens. László Kovác, European Commissioner in charge of Taxation and Customs Union, states his vision on the fight against counterfeiting as follows. ‘Customs have a vital role [...]
Read moreMore relevant links in Delicious
Trybus, M. and L. Rubini (eds.), The Treaty of Lisbon and the Future of European Law and Policy, Cheltenham, Elgar, 2012.
Wyatt and Dashwood's European Union law / , 2006
European Union Law : Cases and Materials / , 2010
Eggermont, F., The Changing Role of the European Council in the Institutional Framework of the European Union: Consequences for the European Integration Process, Cambridge, Intersentia, 2012.
K. Jørgense and Katie Laatikainen, Routledge handbook on the European Union and international institutions : performance, policy, power, London, Routledge, 2013.
A guide to European Union law : as amended by the Treaty of Lisbon / , 2010
