Secondary Legislation - European Legal Research - The Basics - LibGuides at University of San Francisco School of Law

Introduction to Secondary Legislation

European Union "secondary legislation" (e.g., directives, regulations, and decisions of the Council or Commission) appears in the Official Journal, L Series. USF law students can find secondary legislation via EUR-Lex, Lexis, and Westlaw.

Getting Started - Summaries of EU Legislation

Summaries of EU Legislation
These summaries "inform on the main aspects of the European legislation, policies and activities in a clear, easy-to-read and concise way." They are "intended for a general, non-specialized audience and cover 32 topics corresponding to the activities of the European Union."

EUR-Lex - Secondary Legislation from the EU Official Site

EUR-Lex - Legal Acts
EUR-Lex Legislation gives access to: "binding legal instruments (regulations, directives and decisions); non-binding instruments (resolutions, opinions); other instruments (EU institutions' internal regulations, EU action programmes, etc.)" There is a powerful search function.
Official Journal of the EU from EUR-Lex
Access to the Official Journal by date or by citation. Legislation is in the "L" series. Covers 1952 to the present. The EUR-Lex advanced search form can be used to search within the Official Journal.
Directory of Legal Acts (EU Legislation Currently In Force) - EUR-Lex
This Directory lets researchers to browse for in-force legislation by category / topic.
Directory Consolidated Texts - EUR-Lex
Arranged by subject. You can browse this directory "to find the latest: consolidated version of an act (or the basic act if never amended) and amendments/corrigenda to it." [EUR-Lex warns that "this directory is still in an experimental phase. Some references may be missing, especially for amendments published after the last consolidated version."]

Westlaw - EU Secondary Legislation

All EU secondary Legislation is available in Westlaw's European Union Legislation source.

European Union Legislation - Westlaw
Includes: "legislative acts of the Council of the European Union, the European Parliament, and the European Commission reported in the Official Journal of the European Community, L Series, including international agreements; secondary legislation such as regulations and European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) general decisions, directives, and recommendations; and supplementary legislation (legislation resulting from agreements between member states)." Coverage begins with 1952.

Sample searches (run as "Advanced" searches on Westlaw):

For specific directives by citation: citation(directive and 97/81/EC) [old numbering] or
citation(directive and 2015/412) [new numbering]
For specific regulations by citation: citation(regulation and 852/2004) [old new numbering] or
citation(regulation and 2015/402) [new numbering]
For specific decisions by citation: citation(decision and 2002/811/EC) [old numbering] or
citation(decision and 2015/146) [new numbering]
For specific Official Journal citations: citation("OJ 2015 L68-1")
[Note the use and format of the page number (here, page 1). Use a dash in place of the slash that occurs in standard Official Journal citations.]
To limit a search to directives: "part-time work" and citation(directive)
To limit a search to regulations: food! and hygiene and citation(regulation)
To limit a search to decisions: "genetically modified" and citation(decision)

Lexis - EU Directives

EU directives are available in Lexis's "EU Legislation: Directives" source.

Sample search:

To find directives by citation: "directive 97/81/EC" [Results may also include directives that cite your directive.]

EU Legislation: Directives - Lexis
Full text of EU directives. (Lexis's source information does not indicate how current or comprehensive the source is, but it appears to have fairly thorough coverage.)

Lexis - EU Regulations

EU regulations are available in Lexis's "EU Legislation: Regulations" source.

Sample search:

To find regulations by citation: title(regulation pre/5 710/2009) [This search may not work with some regulations.'

EU Legislation: Regulations - Lexis
Full text of EU regulations. (Lexis's source information does not indicate how current or comprehensive the source is, but it appears to have fairly thorough coverage.)

Lexis - EU Decisions

EU decisions are available in Lexis's "EU Legislation: Decisions" source.

Sample search:

To find decisions by citation: decision pre/5 2002/811/EC [This search might retrieve other decisions citing to your decision.]

EU Legislation: Decisions - Lexis
Decisions from 1952 to the present. (Lexis's source information does not indicate how comprehensive the source is, but it appears to have fairly complete coverage.)