url: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/en/index.htm

The EUR-Lex database provides direct free access to European Union law. The system makes it possible to consult the Official Journal of the EU and it includes inter alia legislation, case-law and legislative proposals. It offers extensive search facilities, and incorporates the contents of the CELEX database (the oldest EU legislative database, the CELEX unique numbers used for identification of documents in the database have been preserved).

If you require an OJ issue dating from 1998 and after, you can access PDF versions by following the OJ hyperlink on the homepage Official Journal. If you know the number, year and series, select these in the drop-down menus to search directly for your document. Otherwise, you can browse through any list and click on the year, the month and number. Individual acts published in the OJ from its earliest issues are included in the database and can be accessed by a simple search facility Simple Search. This way is also the easiest one if you have precise details about the document searched (date, number, type, author etc.). The list of results will provide a bibliographic notice for each document. To view the full text of the document, check the "languages and formats available" box in the yellow toolbar and click on GO.

You may wish to use also an advanced search tool designed for professionals Advanced Search. This tool may require the newest version of Java/Sun to be installed in your PC Java download page. The advanced search enables using of flexible search and display modules with a wide range of Boolean operators (like 'AND', 'OR', 'NOT') and full access to EUR-Lex indexed headings. The legislation in force is one of the database collections. It is classified in chapters of the Directory of legislation. Besides the title and the publication references, you will find all modifying acts, as well as the different consolidated versions of the act. The help is available as a PDF file at Advanced Search Help. If you do not have enough of precise details on your target you may follow Collections menu or return to the Simple Search option using more general search terms.

url: http://lad.taiex.be/

The TAIEX Law Approximation Database (LAD) offers a global overview of the legislative progress of candidate countries in the process of approximation of national legislation to the EU acquis communautaire. For some years the site has been a working tool for the administration of the candidate countries and for the exchange of information between the candidate countries and the European Commission. It is now open to the general public in order to provide a comprehensive picture of the progress accomplished. Data has been provided by the candidate countries, which have linked national measures to EU acts according to their own assessment of pertinence. Only enacted measures are mentioned: the fact that no national provisions are indicated in a given area is without prejudice to draft legislation awaiting adoption. Further progress is regularly recorded in the database that is available only in English.

When you access the LAD a specialized client application is loaded into your computer. If you are a newcomer, it would be better to use an embedded wizard helping to choose a particular country (available are: Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Kosovo (UNSCR1244), Latvia, Lithuania, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Malta, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Serbia & Montenegro, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Turkey, and Turkish Cypriot Community), a particular area of law approximation (includes 20 chapters with divisions into further sub-sections as necessary according to the structure of the Directory of Community Legislation in Force), then you may query the database by use of a CELEX number, a measure ID or a keyword (any combination of these parameters is allowed to refine the search).

As a result of the search for EU legislation, you will find a CELEX number (linked to the EUR-lex database providing a multi-lingual text of the document with some additional information). For most of the measures, you will get the “measure ID”, the publication reference of the Official Journal and a short description of the measure. Concerning national legislation, you will find - having selected a country and then an EU measure - a description of the national measure, the date of adoption, the date of entry into force of the measure as well as the authority (or authorities) competent for this measure.

url: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/JOIndex.do?ihmlang=en

Using the Official Journal (OJ) on-line edition you may download all texts that appeared in the OJ.

• since 1998 for the Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish editions;
• since 2004 for the Czech, Estonian, Hungarian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Slovak and Slovene editions, including the special edition containing the texts of the acts of the institutions and of the European Central Bank adopted before 1 May 2004;
• since 2007 for the Bulgarian, Irish and Romanian editions, including the special edition containing the texts of the acts of the institutions and of the European Central Bank adopted before 1 January 2007.

url: http://ec.europa.eu/prelex/apcnet.cfm?CL=en

Using the PreLex you can follow all official documents (Proposals, Recommendations, Communications) transmitted by the Commission to the legislator and to other institutions and bodies involved in the procedure. The detailed documents also summarize the important stages of the process.

A simple Standard Search engine does not require knowledge of the type and number of the searched document since the database may be browsed by use of key words in the title of an initiating proposal, by use of an extended list of events (decisions, consultations, opinions etc.) or activities of specific institutions. By definition of a time slot one may narrow the choice. An Advanced Search engine allows use of Boolean operators (like 'AND', 'OR', 'NOT') and track pending proposals.

url: http://europa.eu/scadplus/scad_en.htm

Using the ScadPlus provides user-friendly fact sheets, which summarize EU legislation. The fact sheets, available in 11 languages, are divided into 32 subject areas, which are the Activities. You will find not only summaries of existing measures, but also a follow-up of legislative proposals in policies as diverse as External Relations and Employment and Social Affairs. With almost 2,500 fact sheets updated daily, the coverage of legislation is comprehensive and up-to-date. The aim of this site is not to supply the latest news on the activities of the European Union, but rather to provide a complete summary of the latest legislative developments. The dates that appear at the bottom of each summary corresponds to the date of the last substantial modification, for example, the introduction of an amending or a related act. Tools such as the keyword index and the glossary make navigation simple. The Search Tool is simple and intuitive.

url: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/n-lex/pays.html?lang=en

The N-Lex portal for sources of national law has been developed by the Office for Official Publications of the European Communities in conjunction with the Member States of the European Union. It allows users to search national sites using a single uniform search template. N-Lex is still an experimental project hosted by EUR-Lex portal. Clicking on the name of a country and then one of the services opens a window that provides access to the national site.

Search masks are offered in 11 languages. The search interfaces are linked to the national law sites, one national law site per Member State, giving access to each country’s legislation. New Member States are added as their collections become available. The aim is to be able to offer search pages for all Member States in all the official languages of the European Union.

The search masks contain various fields for entering the search criteria and also offer a direct link to the national site concerned. Where a search by word is possible, N-Lex also offers access to a multilingual thesaurus, Eurovoc, which serves as a vocabulary and makes it easier for users to enter terms in languages other than their own. N-Lex offers standardized forms in which the search criteria are independent of the targeted site. In the case of a search comprising more than one criterion, only the documents that meet all the criteria entered will be listed. When a search generates a long list of results, it may be useful to add criteria to narrow the search. Conversely, when a search produces no result, deleting one criterion allows the scope of the search to be broadened.

On the results page, a link at the top takes users back to the search form in order to change the criteria (particularly to add or delete criteria if the number of results does not seem suitable) or to launch a new search with new criteria in the same collection.

url: http://europa.eu/documents/comm/white_papers/index_en.htm

Commission White Papers are documents containing proposals for Community action in a specific area. In some cases they follow a Green Paper published to launch a consultation process at European level. When the Council favorably receives a White Paper, it can lead to an action programme for the Union in the area concerned. The White Paper collection contains White Papers published since 1985 and provides access to the full or summarized version of these texts. If the full electronic version of the text is unavailable, you may access (via a link) a summary of the text or the Bulletin of the European Union.

Since the collection is a part of the EUROPA Website one may use an embedded Search functionality but this would lead the user to a collection much broader than only Green Papers (covering EU affairs and essential information on European integration).

url: http://europa.eu/documents/comm/green_papers/index_en.htm

Green Papers are documents published by the European Commission to stimulate discussion on given topics at European level. They invite the relevant parties (bodies or individuals) to participate in a consultation process and debate on the basis of the proposals they put forward. The Green Paper collection contains Green Papers published since 1984 and provides access to the full or summarized version of these texts. If the full electronic version of the text is unavailable, you may access (via a link) a summary of the text or the Bulletin of the European Union. Green Papers may give rise to legislative developments that are then outlined in White Papers.

Since the collection is a part of the EUROPA Website one may use an embedded Search functionality but this would lead the user to a collection much broader than only Green Papers (covering EU affairs and essential information on European integration).

url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/index.jsp?form=null&language=en

Using the ŒIL database, you can follow and monitor interinstitutional decision-making procedures, the role of Parliament in the European legislative procedure and the activities of the institutions involved. The procedures are outlined by documents that make it possible to follow a procedure, to find out what stage it has reached and to make use of the forecasts for the stages to come in English and French. Using documents and events relevant to the procedure, the detailed documents also summarize the important stages of the process.

The home page of the database called European Parliament Legislative Observatory provides a brief overview of certain interinstitutional legislative procedures and the European Parliament's input into those procedures. The information consists of individual summaries of key parts of documents related to legislative proposals. They concern the financial and administrative side, as well as the economic, social and environmental impact of the proposals, thereby sparing users the need to read through all the original texts.

The bookmark Procedures leads us to a search engine providing access to the full text of documents available from the official document depositories of the EU institutions, i.e. the EUR-Lex database, the European Parliament's documents depository, the Council's Register, etc. These documents may be downloaded in 20 languages. The information may be filtered by use of the Topical subject bookmark.

The Institution activity bookmark provides information on the present activities of the European Parliament and the Council of the EU. And finally Factsheets enables access to Impact Assessments, Financial Statements, File Synopsis and Multiple-files Summaries.