Developments in European information issues: Networks and relays – Services – Products, June 2001

EUDOR closes

The document delivery database EUDOR closed as a separate entity with effect from 31st May 2001. However the database content in TIFF format will continue to be available both through the new portal site for European law due to open in June 2001 and as a format option in the CELEX database. As before when searching by words in the text, only the title part of EUDOR documents will be searched and not the full text as these are simply electronic images. Users will be automatically redirected from the old EUDOR site to the new EUR-Lex portal and current User Ids will remain valid. The credit card payment system will also remain, but in future TIFF files will only be supplied via FTP, e-mail or fax but not by post. There may be some disruption while the new services are fully integrated.

New EUR-Lex portal

EUR-OP has announced the opening in June 2001 of the long awaited portal. They say that the new portal front page will replace the existing first page of EUR-Lex at http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/. However for those keen to try it out it can already be seen at http://eur-op.eu.int/portail/en/index.html/. EUR-OP describes the portal as a prototype version which is the first step towards a fully integrated service for EU official legal documents, enabling users to follow the progress of a text from the proposal stage to adoption. The aim is to simplify the search process for users by offering a single entry point with links to all related sites. For example it offers direct links on the front page to CELEX, PreLex, Oeil, TED and the Court of Justice site. There are also links to useful explanatory information on the legal system and the work of the institutions, the electronic version of the publication The ABC of Community law (OOPEC, 2000), and the SCADplus glossary.

Users can do simple searches either globally or in a specific domain, though there is a warning that too many results may be produced by a global search and it is better to try to limit the search to one of the seven domains. The domains can be selected from the top menu bar and cover the Official Journal, Treaties, Legislation, Legislation in preparation, Case law, Parliamentary Questions, and Documents of public interest. For an advanced search option the user is directed via a hyperlink to the CELEX database which remains a subscription service.

The integrated service concept is illustrated by selecting, for example, the domain Parliamentary questions. This links directly to the European Parliament website where the texts of the questions and answers are available. Similarly, choosing the Legislation domain offers links to the Directory of Legislation in Force, Consolidated legislation, and the Application of Community law in Member States as well as a search screen. The Application of Community law leads not, as some might hope, to information on national implementing measures but to the website of the Secretariat-General of the Commission which provides statistical data and graphs on the progress made by the member states in notification of national measures implementing directives. The data can be viewed both by member state and by sector and be accessed directly at http://europa.eu.int/comm/secretariat_general/sgb/droit_com/index_en.htm. Without having to go into the CELEX database the Case law domain offers quick access to the Court of Justice website for data from 1997 as well as competition cases from the DG Competition website, and judgements from the EFTA Court and from the European Court of Human Rights. Legislation in preparation puts users on the track of Council documents, a limited number of which are now in full text and freely available via the Council's website and its public register of documents at http://register.consilium.eu.int/utfregister/frames/introfsen.htm

The portal's search facility and other features of interest will be discussed after further investigation when links are fully live. The new site looks initially quite complex with a lot of small print but no doubt when users become familiar with it they will warm to the range and depth of free information plus the ease of access to additional fee paying sources.