European Union Documents

The main source for the texts of EU legislation, and other documents is EUR-Lex.

Legislation in the EU refers to a variety of types of enactments.

"Primary Legislation" refers to EU Treaties, which established the EU (Founding Treaties), added new members to the EU (Accession Treaties), and more broadly, define EU objectives, outline rules for EU institutions, and govern the relationship between the EU and its member state. 

"Secondary Legislation" is a collective term used to describe all the various types of law the European institutions can enact, including: 

• Regulations: Law that is directly and automatically binding in all member states.
• Directives: Binding law as to a result.  Each member state chooses the form and method to achieve that result through enactment of a domestic law.
• Decisions: Law usually addressed only to and binding upon a specific member state, organization or person.
• "Soft Laws": Non-binding policy statements including communications, opinions, recommendations, white and green papers.

The law-making process in the EU is quite complex. The Legislative procedures database provides detailed information about the life cycle of a particular legislative proposal from the moment it is launched until the final law is adopted. The European Parliament database called European Parliament Legislative Observatory monitors the inter-institutional decision-making process in the European Union and contains all procedures still ongoing and all procedures concluded July 1994.

(Image from The ABC of EU Law).