Европейский учебный институтпри МГИМО (У) МИД России

European Documentation Centres

European Documentation Centres are a network of information centres specialising in EU information established by the European Commission. A joint homepage for all the EDCs in Europe has now been set up. Europe Near You is a new service from Europa explaining the information networks available with directories and contact details.

The European Documentation Centre in Exeter receives copies of all major official publications from the European institutions.

Hong Kong Baptist University's EDC has a web site which provides very useful information about EU links with Asia (available in English and Chinese).

A very useful introductory seminar on Decision-making in Europe has been provided by the EDC of the University of Tilburg in the Netherlands: it gives valuable help in finding and using European official documentation. 

University of Mannheim EDC has a most impressive site, accessible in German and English, with subject guides to online sources and a comprehensive directory of EU information relays with links to all those centres with their own web pages.

The University of Catania's website, in Italian with some English translations, includes an interactive map of all EDCs in Europe with links to their websites.

The EDC of the University of Valencia has a very useful site in Spanish and Catalan.

The European Information Association is the professional organisation for European documentation specialists and has a very useful web site.

Europe in the UK is a national online directory of sources of information on all aspects of the EU.

EUDUG (European Union Databases User Group) is a lobby group which aims to bring together the producers and end-users of specialist databases in EU research. The website includes details of commercial and free databases.

Library Catalogues

University of Exeter Library. All serials and monographs held by the European Documentation Centre are fully catalogued here. ECLAS the catalogue of the European Commission Library is now available online and is the best place to search for literature on Europe in all formats, including internet resources: access is free. Information about other official libraries is now available on the website of the Central Library. Docurama is a useful shortcut to the website, library and contact details of all European institutions.   The European University Institute in Florence is a major centre for research on EU law and policy. Its catalogue is easy to use and the website contains a wide range of other useful material.

FLARE is a joint initiative by the major UK legal research libraries which provides information about holdings of European legal material and includes useful background articles.

London School of Economics Library Catalogue - LSE is the largest repository of EC material in the UK. The European Library is a joint portal for all the national libraries in Europe”

The Library of Congress Online Catalog covers post-1982 accessions to the USA's national library.

Bibliographies

The US Delegation of the Commission has compiled an invaluable A-Z index of EU websites.

A bibliographic guide to the EU by Osvaldo Croci is available on the EU-Canada page.

The Jean Monnet Centre at Leeds includes useful subject bibliographies on current topics on its website, together with essential links to official sources.

RAVE (Research for articles in Public international and European law) is a comprehensive bibliography from Dusseldorf University of articles and judgments since 1995 in major English, French and German journals. Hypertext links are included to the full text of some documents.

European Integration Current Contents is a  free service giving the contents of the major journals in European law and integration. It covers the most recent issues of over 50 titles in 8 languages and includes abstracts of some articles. SCAD Plus is a very useful source of information about EU policy and includes details of national legislation implementing directives.

Searching the web

Internet for European Studies, an online tutorial, is available from the Resources Data Network.

EuroStudies, which forms part of Intute (formerlySOSIG, the Social Science Information Gateway) aims to provide access to high quality Internet resources on Europe, with especial emphasis on Central and Eastern Europe.

Europa's search facility allows a simultaneous search of all the EU's web servers.

Official Servers of European Institutions

EUROPA  is the European Union's own information portal. Click on Activities for links to information on major policy areas and on Institutions for links to all the EU's official bodies and agencies. News links to press releases and calendar of official meetings. New information is continually being added, so check the What's new section.   Europe Direct is a new direct information service based in the European Commission which will answer questions by telephone or e-mail or direct inquirers to other information sources.  

The European Commission site links to news items and to the Directorates-General and Services of the Commission, which all have separate web sites with details of policy and publications.

The UK Representation homepage has addresses of all official EU information sources in Britain as well as press releases, Euromyths and online Policy briefs , useful summaries of major policy areas with links to relevant official sites.

The European Parliament's server has full details of the EP's sessions and publications in all Community languages. These include the excellent encyclopedia Factsheets on the European Union which covers all aspects of EU policy and includes details of legal documents and EP involvement. A complete index of Debates and Texts Adopted for 1984-1999 is now available (in 5 vols., PFD format only)
The European Parliament UK Office has a useful website with general information about the EP and the European elections together with a list of UK MEPs by region. 

The Council of the European Union has its own web site with details of its role, activities, and publications. The Register of public documents contains documents from 1999 onwards.

EU Gov (part of Legal Day) is a comprehensive single page directory of official sources on the EU and the Council of Europe.

Information about careers in the European institutions is available from the European Personnel Selection Office. Traineeships (or "stages") are handled by the Traineeships Office.

The Bureau of Policy Advisers is a unit of the European Commission which reports directly to the President on a variety of issues, including economy and ethics. Many reports are available online in full text.

Europol , the European Police Office, is the European law enforcement organisation, primarily concerned with combatting organised crime, drug trafficking and fraud. Documents include the Europol Convention and annual reports. Eurodicautom "the translator's best friend on the web" is a useful service to provide equivalents of standard words in EU official languages and documents. The Translation Service of the Commission also has a very useful website.

IDEA is the online version of the Interinstitutional Directory of the European Union, searchable by name or by position. Access is free. Contacting the European Union lists the e-mail contacts for the institutions.  

Official documents

The Documents portal on Europa gives details of the publications of all the European institutions together with links to online versions. It includes green and white papers since 1996.

Publications Office (Office for Official Publications of the European Union) has just redesigned its website. In addition to the catalogue of official publications and a useful FAQ file it now provides access to other databases and to the text of the Official Journal.

The Bulletin of the EU is the authoritative report of the activities of the Commission and other EU institutions. Published 10 times a year in all Community languages (with a 3 to 4 month delay), all issues since 1996 are online. The site now has a useful search engine and links are included to all official documents mentioned where electronic versions are available.

The General Report on the Activities of the European Union is the essential source of official information. Summaries of the 1995 and 1996 reports and the full text of 1997 onwards are available online.

Easy reading corner include useful introductory booklets in the series Europe on the move, European documentation etc. Europa has also set up "Thematic portals" about EU actions with regard to Cultural activity , Public health and Sport.

The Charter of Fundamental Rights is available in a useful website including background material. Europarl has a valuable site which analyses the Charter article by article with links to international and European law on human rights.

Conclusions of each presidency since 1994 may be downloaded in all official languages from the European Council site on Europa. The European Parliament has helpfully also uploaded all conclusions since 1985 on Europarl. Earlier conclusions are available on Archive of European integration.

Eurobarometer reports are available from the Public opinion site on Europa.

Governance in the EU - a white paper includes preparatory documents and responses. A collection of major official reports is online at European Commission papers on regulatory governance.

Grants of the European Union is a comprehensive guide to all EU-funded schemes within the Union and beyond.

The first two reports of the Committee of Experts on allegations regarding fraud, mismanagement and nepotism in the European Commission are available to download in all official languages.

Impact of the enlargement of the European Union on small and medium-sized enterprises in the Union was published by the Enterprise DG in 2000.

The institutional implications of enlargement (the Dehaene report) was presented to the Commission on 18 October 1999. 

The Lisbon strategy for economic, social and environmental renewal was first presented at the European Council in March 2000. All information relating to its progress appears on the Growth and jobs site.

Lobbying is the subject of several reports on the Secretariat-General's website The European Commission and special interest groups.  Consultation, the European Commission and Civil Society (CONECCS) is a searchable database of all special interest groups registered for consultation with the Commission.

Modernisation of company law brings together reports and documents from the Commission.

The Reports on economic and social cohesion are essential sources of information on regional policy.

The Sapir report (An agenda for a growing Europe: making the EU economic system deliver) was commissioned by Romano Prodi.

The text of all the European treaties is available on Eur-Lex . More information about Treaties and law is available on Europa.

The European Convention was set up after the Laeken European Council to provide a public forum on the future of the European Union. It produced the text of the Draft Constitutional Treaty, which is available here. An alternative version of the  Constitutional Treaty has been made available online by University of Kent's Centre for Europe.

Document collections

The Historical Archives of the European Community are held by the European University Institute in Florence. A separate database, ARCHISPlus, covers the Historical Archives Service of the Commission.

The History of European Integration site at the University of Leiden contains a wide range of historical documents in full text and links to all the major international organizations involved in Europe.

The West European Studies homepage, part of Pittsburgh University's virtual library, has a comprehensive collection of links including government sources from member states and includes the Archive of European integration, a collection of research materials in full text.

Information about the European Union

European Governments on the Web is a complete listing of official web sites and includes links to all servers in EU institutions usefully arranged by organisational structure. European governments online on Europa is less comprehensive but more up to date.

EUABC is a useful online dictionary of EU terms and phrases.

Britain and the EU is the Foreign Office website with links to many official documents relating to Europe.

The British Council Office in Brussels has excellent resources on UK cultural relations with Europe.

Corporate Observatory Europe is a fascinating virtual tour of the Euro-Quarter in Brussels illustrating how lobbyists feature in the European administration.

La France et l'Europe is a well-organized official site covering all aspects of French involvement in the European Union.

History of the European Union and European citizenship, part of a survey by Spanish historian Juan Carlos Ocaña, is an online illustrated history of European integration.

House of Commons European Scrutiny Committee and House of Lords Select Committee on the European Communities reports are available in full text.

Inside Europe is the BBC's online guide to the history, institutions and current affairs of the EU.

Statewatch is an essential guide to civil liberties in UK and Europe. The text of the draft Constitution for Europe is online together with commentaries from Statewatch.  

Toute l'Europe is a French portal to European current affairs.

UN Economic Commission for Europe is a forum for economic cooperation between Europe and the rest of the world.

Wikipedia , the free encyclopedia, has extensive articles about the European Union, its institutions and policies.

European Law

Eur-Lex is the European Commission's legal portal. It gives free access to: the complete text of all secondary legislation in force (searchable by subject and by document number); the treaties and other international agreements; the case-law of the Court of Justice; the consolidated legislation database and the contents of the Official Journal (in PDF) since 1998. The full text of Commission documents (COM) is also included. CELEX the EC's original legal database, is still available, although it has not been updated since 2004. It has been largely superseded by Eur-Lex. Access is free: follow the instructions to log on.

Curia, the Court of Justice web site, links to all language versions of the Proceedings (weekly summaries of judgments and opinions) since September 1996 and the full text of recent judgments and opinions, since June 1997, searchable by case number and by name. An index to all the published reports in case number order is also now available. The Court's site also includes a database of judgments relating to the Brussels and Lugano Conventions, with the text of the Conventions and a comprehensive list of Institutional and legal internet sites.

Legislative observatory (OEIL) is part of the European Parliament server and provides up to date information on the position of draft legislation in its progress through the European institutions. Prelex is a similar service on Europa. Since 2002 assessments have been made of the economic, social and environmental effects of all new legislation proposed by the Commission.The Impact assessment website lists proposals since 2003 (COM documents) alongside their assessments (SEC documents).

Application of Community law is a Commission site giving information about infringements, implementation and state aids decisions. It also includes the text of the annual reports since 1998.

The EFTA Surveillance Authority is responsible for the application of EC law in the European Economic Area. Its site includes the AIDA database, which provides details of national application.

Eulisnet, a comprehensive guide to European law for law students and practitioners, has been compiled by Yves Conrad of Louvain EDC. It is available in English, French and German.

Eurojust (The European Judicial Network) was established to combat organised crime in Europe. The site has texts of all the relevant treaties and resolutions.    The European Judicial Network in civil and commercial matters has extensive information on the legal systems of EU member states.

European law monitor is a commercial site with extensive details of the EU legislative processes, and specific information on actual proposals. Subscribers have access to alerting services and lobbying information.

European private law homepage(Ius commune) provides legislation, case law and commentary on all areas of European private law.

Company law and corporate governance has all official reports and legislation from the EU.

The Competition Directorate's home page has texts of all EC competition legislation and decisions.  

The Consumer law page of the DG for Health and Consumer Affairs includes CLAB Europa, an EC database of case law on unfair terms in commercial contracts.   The Commission on European Contract Law homepage has the full text of the proposals of the Lando Commission for the harmonisation of European contract law. A very useful website on the Rome Convention on contractual obligations with all relevant documents, cases and bibliography, has been set up by the Academy of European Law

The Commission on European Family Law has information about developments in harmonisation of family law in Europe.

Copyright law in the EU and US is comprehensively covered by the European Copyright User Platform. Compiled by EBLIDA under the EC's Libraries Programme it is particularly useful for information specialists.

Data protection  legislation and reports are available from the DG Internal Market site. Reports of the Legal Advisory Board for the Information Market are archived online. 

Electronic Commerce legislation and reports from the EU are on the Internal Market site.

ELIXIR (European Lawyers' Information eXchange & Internet Resource) based at the University of Birmingham has exetensive information about the legal profession in the member states as well as EC law in general.

Employment law is covered extensively by Labourweb at the University of Catania and by the websites of the Federation of European Employers and of the European Trade Union Institute. All are useful sources of  European, national and international legislation as well as background information. Labour law and work organisation legislation and documents are available in a dedicated section of Europa.

The European Environmental Law Homepage is a collection of EU and UN texts, complemented by the very useful dossier Francovich follow-up on state liability for breaches of Community law. A Handbook for Implementation of EU Environmental Legislation is available from the DG Environment site. 

The European Council on Refugees and Exiles has an excellent website with legislation, proposals and informed comments on refugee and asylum law.

Food law information for the UK and EU is available to support the course at Reading University.

The Institute for Information Law at the University of Amsterdam has texts of EU legislation and proposals together with online articles on IT, telecommunications and freedom of expression.

Intellectual Property Helpdesk on Cordis provides legal information for the EU and its member states. 

New Approach - standardization in the internal market has the text of directives with links to European standards organisations.

Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (Trade marks and Designs) has legislation relating to the Community trade mark and Community design .

Electronic Journals

Collegium is the journal of the College d'Europe in Bruges.

Education and Culture at a glance (DG Education and Culture newsletter).

Eurobarometer and other opinion polls conducted by DGX of the Commission are now available online.

EIRO (European Industrial Relations Observatory) is now available online from the European Foundation.

European Foreign Policy Bulletin contains all foreign policy declarations made by the European institutions since 1985. Hosted by the European University Institute the database is fully searchable.

European Information Service is a valuable commercial updating service on EU affairs. Although some of the site is only available to subscribers, it contains very useful articles and comment.

European Integration Online Papers is the first online journal devoted entirely to European integration.

European Journal of International Law . Full text for the first 9 years of the journal.

European Legal Forum specialises in European private law.

European Voice is a weekly newspaper covering EU affairs published by the Economist Group.

Journal of European Affairs (European Analysis, formerly EU Policy Network).

Parliament magazine is a fortnightly discussion magazine about European institutions and policies.

Working papers

A number of research institutes and think-tanks publish papers on aspects of European policy. European Research Papers Archive is a searchable joint access point to 9 major series of online research papers, currently including over 700 titles. Other organisations which publish working papers include:

Center for Applied Policy Research (CAP) in Munich is a useful source (in German) of information about European current affairs with downloadable research papers and links to articles from the world press.

The Centre for European Policy Studies  (economic, financial and security policy).

The Centre for European Reform publishes briefing papers on all aspects of Europe.

CEPII (Centre d'Etudes Prospectives et d'Informations Internationales) is the leading French research institute on international economics. Papers on enlargement and world trade in French and English.

Chaillot papers and other publications of the Institute for Security Studies  are a valuable source of information on defence policy in Europe.

Cicero Foundation publishes largely on foreign and security policy.

EIPA (European Institute for Public Administration)  

European Policy Centre.

European Policies Research Centre, University of Strathclyde

The Federal Trust  

Harvard Jean Monnet Working papers  

National Europe Centre, Australia

The Robert Schuman Foundation website carries news and articles in French and English.

Social Platform is an association of organisations concerned with social policy in Europe.

STOA (Scientific and Technological Options Assessment) publications are available from the European Parliament website.

Swedish Institute for European Policy Studies (SIEPS) publishes working papers on all aspects of European policy as well as annual statistical surveys of European legislation.

Current Affairs

EU Press Room on the Europa server has daily press releases and details of meetings of all the European institutions. It includes the  RAPID database which archives most official press releases since 1985. It is fully searchable.

EU for Journalists is a site designed for the European Commission by the European Journalism Centre in Maastricht.   EU Observer and EU Politix are excellent sources of news headlines relating to the EU.

infoBASE EUROPE is a news agency for European social and industrial relations policy news and developments (partly subscription).

Austria holds the Presidency from January to June 2006. Finland takes over the presidency in July 2006.

2006 has been designated the European Year for Workers' Mobility.

Regional information

Inforegio is the web site of the Directorate-General for Regional Policy. It gives details of all EU programmes which support the regions of the EU. Information about NUTS (Nomenclature of regional statistical units) is available from Eurostat.  A critique by Paul Treanor on the EU and Council of Europe's proposals is also available.

The Committee of Regions has details of the work and publications of the Committee.

Centre de ressources sur les régions ultrapériphériques de l'Union européenne has information and downloadable documents in French, Spanish and Portuguese on the overseas territories.

The Conference of European Regional Legislative Assemblies represents all regional parliaments in the European Union.

The Council of European Municipalities is a useful source of information about EU regional funding and subjects such as twinning and sustainable development.

European issues is part of Devon County Council's excellent site detailing regional initiatives and funding in Devon. Exeter City Council provides local business and general information links.   Eurisles is a well-presented site giving information about the particular problems facing the islands of the EU.   The European Regional Information Society Association offers information about projects to boost declining regional economies by involvement in information technology.

Local Government International Bureau is a good source of information on UK local authorities involvement in Europe and includes European Information Service (in part subscription-only).

Euromosaic reports on the status of minority languages throughout the EU. The site is based in Catalonia and is available in Catalan, English and French. Mercator-Education gives links and information about the use of minority languages in Europe and includes a database of national legislation concerning language. Language futures Europe is an excellent site from Paul Treanor on EU language policy. European minority languages is an exhaustive collection of online resources.

Rural development projects are led by the LEADER+ programme; its site links to the archives of the LEADER I and II programmes. 

The DTI has useful information on European Structural Funds.   Wyn Grant's CAP home page is a personal page relating to the Common Agricultural Policy and its effects.

Enlargement

The European Commission's Enlargement site contains all reports on the candidate countries with links to national sites. The site includes archives of documents relating to the fifth enlargement in 2004. Agenda 2000 has details of the original programme for enlargement of the EU from 1999. Europarl's site Enlargement of the EU archives Council and Parliament decisions as well as Briefing notes on individual applicant countries.

A very comprehensive dossier on EU-Turkish relations has been compiled by Eduard Soler i Lecha of the Observatory of European Foreign Policy.

International relations

The European Union in the World is the entry point for all information on EU involvement in world affairs.  The General Secretariat of the ACP Group website contains most essential documents about all aspects of EU relations with ACP (Africa, Caribbean and Pacific) countries in French and English. More information is available from the websites of ECDPM (European Centre for Development Policy Management) and Eurostep (European Solidarity Towards Equal Participation of People).   The External Services of the Commission has a directory of Web sites of European Commission Delegations & Representations . All have useful information and documents about EU programmes in their regions. European Union at the United Nations has information about EU involvement with all levels of the UN.

EuropaWorld reports on international development and humanitarian actions of European institutions, governments and NGOs.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is concerned with financial aid to reform Eastern Europe's economy and political institutions. Economic Reconstruction and Development in South East Europe is a World Bank/European Commission website designed to give information about the area's current situation and needs. The European Agency for Reconstruction is concerned with aid to Kosovo.   Japan-Europe relations is a comprehensive collection of documents relating to EU-Japan relations made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Japan.   Mediterranean policy of the EU is a collection of documents compiled by Erwan Lannon as part of his doctoral research.  MedForum is the NGO network for ecology and sustainable development in the Mediterranean region.     Switzerland has established an Office for European Integration: its website (in French, German, English and Italian) has the text of all official agreements and other useful information.

Business and Trade

Your Europe is a multilingual service of the Europa server designed to provide general information on the internal market for citizens and business..

TED (Tenders Electronic Daily) is a free service from the European Commission providing a searchable database of calls for tender for public service contracts advertised in the Supplement to the Official Journal. SIMAP is an information service on public procurement in the single market with useful links to the text of legislation and international agreements. Tenders on the web is a subscription service which also provides the text of relevant directives. Tenders Direct allows free searches by subject area. The network of Euro Info Centres help small businesses search for tenders and partners, as well as other information requests. Directorate-General for Trade of the European Commission deals with external trade policy with North America, the Far East and Australasia. It also hosts the Market Access Database which contains details of world trade agreements (including GATS) and their importance to EU businesses.

Directorate General for Internal Market has extensive information about legal and practical aspects of the single market.

DG Enterprise and Industry is responsible for all aspects of EU business policy. The website includes a useful section on Tourism.

EU Business is a leading website for news and information aimed at businesses and decision-makers.

The American Chamber of Commerce to the European Union (AmCham EU) site is a useful source of current information on business and legislation. Although some of the information is only available to subscribers, a significant amount is free. Eurochambres is the leading representative body for European business. Its website links to the chamber of commerce network in Europe and includes the text of documents relating to European policy. The European Business Register contains on line company information from the official register in several European countries (excluding the UK).

The Euro

The European Central Bank web site carries the text of its publications and full details of its operations.

The Euro: our currency and EMU: a historical documentation are Europa's archives of documents on the euro.

Euro Information from the Treasury is the best source for UK business information.

European Monetary Union & Economic Outlook by Professor David L. Cleeton of Oberlin University is the most comprehensive collection of online working papers, reports and articles on the eurozone economy.

Research

CORDIS (Community Research and Development Information Service) provides information about the Community's research and development information service and the CORDIS databases. It includes details of all current research programmes and has archive sites for earlier programmes. A special site is devoted to the Sixth Framework Programme.  Bio-society deals with socio-economic research in the life sciences and the implications of biotechnology. 

Innovation Relay Centres are an official network set up by Cordis to to advise organisations - especially small businesses - on technology and innovation.

The European Centre for Standardization provides information about CEN standards and also gives links to national standards bodies, including the British Standards Institution (BSI).

The European Environment Agency has its own web server with details of EU policies relating to the environment and links to other sources of environmental information

The European Patent Office site gives practical and legal information about European patent procedures and also provides links to national patent offices.

European Research Conferences has details of conferences organised by the European Science Foundation.

Information society portal covers all aspects of EU involvement in the development of the information society

The Joint Research Centre of the EC consists of seven separate institutes, each with a web presence. The Environment Institute at Ispra in Italy and the IPTS (Institute for Prospective Technological Studies) in Spain currently provide the most information online.

Space law is now covered extensively by the European Centre for Space Law set up by the European Space Agency. Arianespace is a well-illustrated site with full details of the Ariane European space programme.

Students & Education

AEGEE is a European students' association which organises international congresses and summer universities. There are links from this site to other sources of student information.

The Directorate-General for Education and Training of the European Commission is responsible for all EC programmes in the field of education, including SOCRATES and Leonardo da Vinci.

Eurydice is a server established by DG Education to provide information about education in the European Union. The English Eurydice site is maintained by NFER and is a useful source of news items on all aspects of education in the EU.

Eurodesk is a European information network for programmes in education, training and youth. Their site includes a searchable database of programmes and contacts.

ECSA (European Communities Studies Association) is an international network of teachers and researchers in European integration based on 49 national associations. UACES (University Association for Contemporary European Studies) is the British association. Euristote is a university research database on European integration which is part of the Jean Monnet Project.   EUSA (European Union Studies Association) is a communication network established by the EC university information unit to stimulate collaboration between academics researching European integration.   The Electronic Training Village is a new venture from CEDEFOP (European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training) which aims to provide an opportunity to share information about training in Europe.

The European Law Moot Court Society gives details of the annual mooting competitions held throughout Europe.

European Schoolnet is a fascinating collection of information about European cooperative projects in teaching. FORNET aims to bring together researchers on the European Union's Common Foreign and Security Policy and will include news, bibliographic details and a discussion forum.

Funders Online is a very useful source of information for students seeking funding for courses.

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