European Union law. Documents

Book abstract:

The purpose of this volume is to provide advanced students of European integration and all those working with European Union law in practice with a compact collection of the most important primary and secondary sources of this law, a quick reference guide and a desk-copy for rapid and frequent consultation.

The editor identifies a number of advantages that this collection holds over previously available ones. First, it includes many documents relating to the institutions of the EU and their decision-making processes. Sources of law, such as the Rules of Procedure of Parliament, Council and Commission, will be useful in trying to understand the work of these institutions and checking the formal legality of an act of one of these institutions. Second, all regulations and directives, as well as most other documents, are reproduced with their preambles, which is important for the interpretation of the operative parts of the legal rules. Third, all documents are printed with article headlines, which should make for better understanding of the texts. The volume is further enhanced by various tables of contents, one general and several specific for the longer documents, as well as a detailed index to key words and expressions.

Documents have been arranged under eight main headings: The foundations of an 'ever closer union'; Institutional law and general principles of the European Union; Legal remedies under EU law; Human rights and civil liberties; Economic freedoms in the internal market; European Union competition policy; External trade law of the European Union; and Other common policies of the European Union (includes environmental protection, consumer protection, labour law and social policy).

Where documents have been amended subsequent to their adoption, the amendments have been incorporated into the text. As far as possible, the law has been updated to 30th June, 1999. It is intended to incorporate subsequent amendments and important new legislation into new editions.