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European Union Law: Background Sources and Commentary

A guide to researching the law of the European Union

Introductory Background Sources and Commentary

There are many good introductions to EU law.

For an introduction to the institutional structure of the EU, see:

  • T.C. Hartley, The Foundations of European Union Law: an Introduction to the Constitutional and Administrative Law of the European Union, 7th ed. (Oxford: OUP Press, 2010) (KJE947 .H37)
  • A. Rosas, EU constitutional law: an Introduction, 2nd ed. (Portland, Or: Hart, 2012) (KJE4445 .R67)

For an encyclopedic treatment of EU law, see:

  • H. Smit, Smit & Herzog on the Law of the European Union (Newark, NJ: Matthew Bender, 2005 -), available in Lexis.com.

For general monographic commentary on the EU, see:

  • A. Dashwood, et al., Wyatt and Dashwood's European Union Law, 6th ed. (Oxford: Hart, 2011) (KJE947 .W93)
  • P. Craig, The Evolution of EU Law, 2nd ed., (Oxford: OUP, 2011) (KJE947 .E99)
  • R. Folsom, Principles of European Union Law, 3rd ed. (St. Paul, Mn: West, 2011) (Hornbook Reserve KJE949 .F553)
  • P.S.R.F. Mathijsen, A Guide to European Union Law: As Amended by the Treaty of Lisbon, 10th ed., (London: Sweet & Maxwell, 2010) (KJE947 .M38)
  • I. Ward, A Critical Introduction to European Law, 3rd ed., (Cambridge: CUP, 2009) (KJE947 .W365)

  • J. Fairhurst, Law of the Euroopean Union, 5th ed., (Harlow: Pearson Longman, 2006) (KJE947 .V56)

 

 

Recent Commentary by Subject

Administrative Law

Company Law

  • J. Borg-Barthet, The Governing Law of Companies in EU Law (Oxford:Hart, 2012) (KJE2460 .B67)
  • J. Dine, Gore-Bowne on EU Company Law (Bristol: Jordan, 2007 -) (KJE2432 .D56)

Competition Law

  • P.M. Roth, European Community Law of Competition, 6th ed. (Oxford:OUP, 2008) ( KJE6456 .B45)

Criminal Law

  • V. Mitsilegas, EU Criminal Law (Oxford:Hart, 2009) (KJE7975 .M58)

Environmental Law

  • L. Kramer, EU Environmental Law, 7th ed., (London:Sweet & Maxwell, 2011) (KJE6242 .K73)

There are also a few specialized treatises available in Lexis.com and WestlawNext.

 

Law Journal Indexes and Databases

Many articles on European Union legal topics appear in American legal periodicals, which are indexed by LegalTrac (1980 -) and by the Index to Legal Periodicals (1981 -). These indexes also cover a large number of non-U.S. journals.

The Legal Journals Index (1986 -) indexes British journals, which also include many articles on EU law. LJI is available in WestlawNext.

Many U.S. journals are available in full text in West;awNext and Lexis Advance  (and Lexis.com). The HeinOnline Law Journal Library is both an index and a database, which includes the full text of many U.S. and non-U.S. law reviews from volume one onward.

A number of specialized periodicals deal exclusively or primarily with EU law.

  • Cambridge Yearbook of European Legal Studies
  • Collected Courses of the Academy of European Law (Now a monographic series)
  • Columbia Journal of European Law
  • Common Market Law Review
  • European Competition law Annual
  • European Competition Law Review : ECLR
  • European Law Review
  • European Public Law
  • Journal of Common Market Studies
  • Legal Issues of European Integration
  • Yearbook of European Law