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Contacts, institutions, news and other information relating to the European Union.

The EU Referendum

Our EU Referendum information guide (PDF format) provides links to resources on the referendum on the UK's membership of the EU held on June 23rd 2016.

Useful contact points

Europa information sources:

EU Who is Who - the online version of the interinstitutional directory of the European Union, searchable by personal name, organisation and position.

Europe for Citizens - the aim of the Europe for Citizens Programme is to contribute to citizens' understanding of the EU, its history an diversity and to encourage the democratic participation of citizens at EU level.

Get involved in European policy making - Overview of ways in which EU citizens can influence policy, including the European Citizens' Initiative, petitions to the European Parliament, Citizens' Dialogues and giving feedback.

European Commission: Have Your Say - Ways in which EU citizens can give feedback on Commission initiatives, including responding to consultations.

Online directories, portals and gateways

Climate Change Knowledge Portal Beta - Is a central hub of information, data and reports about climate change around the world. Here you can query, map and compare, chart and summarize key climate and climate-related information.

Copernicus Climate Change Service - Provides authoritative information about the past, present and future climate, as well as tools to enable climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies by policy makers and businesses

CORDIS - The Community Research and Development Information Service (CORDIS) is the European Commission's primary source of results from the projects funded by the EU's framework programmes for research and innovation (FP1 to Horizon 2020)

Enterprise Europe Network - connects innovators with manufacturers, distributors, co-developers and suppliers overseas.

Entrepreneurship and Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) - Presents an overview of what the EU does for SMEs, including:

Erasmus+ - Erasmus+ is the European Union programme for education, training, youth and sport. It runs for seven years, from 2014 to 2020, with organisations invited to apply for funding each year to undertake creative and worthwhile activities. It is open to education, training, youth and sport organisations across all sectors of lifelong learning, including school education, further and higher education, adult education and the youth sector. It offers exciting opportunities for participants to then study, work, volunteer, teach and train abroad in Europe. The Erasmus+ UK site includes information on the implications of Brexit for UK participation.

EU Energy Poverty Observatory - The EU Energy Poverty Observatory (EPOV) is an exciting new initiative by the European Commission to help Member States in their efforts to combat energy poverty. It exists to improve the measuring, monitoring and sharing of knowledge and best practice on energy poverty. This web portal is the main focal point for the EU Energy Poverty Observatory and includes a wide range of useful resources.

EU Science Hub -  brings together scientific knowledge produced by the Joint Research Centre, the science and knowledge service of the European Commission. It is the platform for information and exchange about all scientific activities carried out by the JRC and by our institutes across Europe.

EUNIC London - gateway to European cultural events in the UK

EURES Portal - provides information, advice and recruitment and placement services for EU citizens wishing to benefit from the principle of the free movement of labour.

Europa - official internet gateway to the European Union. One of the best ways to search the site is through Search Europa.

Europe Direct - provides information about EU policy, advice on practical issues such as how to obtain a residence permit, and contact details for organisations

European Investment Project Portal - brings together innovators and investors, while the European Investment Advisory Hub provides technical assistance.

European Youth Portal - information and opportunities for young people to volunteer, work and learn across Europe.

ICOS CARBON Portal - ICOS is the European measurement system for high quality and high precision greenhouse gas observations. The ICOS Carbon Portal provides free and open access to all ICOS data

Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Knowledge Gateway - Offers a reference point for public health policy makers. You will find reliable, independent and up-to date information on topics related to the promotion of health and well-being, in particular the prevention of non-communicable diseases like cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer.

Public Health Best Practice Portal - Provides access to examples of good and best practice in health promotion and disease prevention collected from projects co-funded by EU Health Programmes.

Research and Innovation Observatory – Horizon 2020 Policy Support Facility - provides a library of the main national R&I policy documents, information on national R&I organisations, and news about R&I policy development. The Statistics area presents a comprehensive Data catalogue and visualisations of selected Key indicators 

TAXEDU : Tax Education Portal - TAXEDU is a European Union pilot project. Its aim is to educate young European citizens about tax and how it affects their lives. Information is conveyed through games, e-learning material and microlearning clips so that European youngsters can learn about tax in its different forms, and the issues associated with it (tax fraud, tax evasion, etc.) in a fun and engaging way.

Transparency Register - provides citizens with a direct and single access to information about who is engaged in activities aiming at influencing the EU decision making process, which interests are being pursued and what level of resources are invested in these activities.

Your Europe Portal - information for citizens and business, including how to access EU finance.

News and current awareness sources

BBC European News Pages - latest news updated constantly

EU Observer - an independent online news service providing up-to-date coverage of the European Union.

EU Newsroom - has daily press releases and details of the meetings of all the European institutions. It includes access to searchable databases of the press releases of the European Commission and other institutions.

Euractiv.com - news on EU policy developments from an independent provider

Euranet - the European radio network keeps you informed about what is happening in the continent from a pan-European perspective through programmes in eight languages.

Euronews - more EU and international news from an independent provider

European Data Journalism Network - A platform for data-driven news on European affairs in up to 12 languages brought to you by a consortium of media and data journalists from all over Europe

European Data News Hub - This platform provides journalists with data and information on EU topics from a pan European perspective. As website operator the Datenfreunde GmbH (OpenDataCity) based in Berlin contributes public survey results and social media monitoring related to the EU subjects covered. The news agencies AFP, ANSA and dpa work together with the aim of developing new ways of displaying and providing data-based news packages consisting of images, videos, radio clips, interactive graphics, information graphics and texts in five languages.

Eurotopics - summaries, in English, of articles on EU matters in the European press.

New Europe - Independent EU affairs newspaper published since 1993 with its headquarters in Brussels.

Politico Europe Edition - covers the politics, policy and personalities of the European Union

Voxeurop - newspaper reports from all EU countries, translated into English, plus briefings on topical issues and a blog.

Contracts, grants and funding

Beneficiaries of CAP Payments - The European Commission maintains this webpage to facilitate public access to information on beneficiaries of CAP payments (shared management) which are published on Member State websites

Beneficiaries of European Union Cohesion Policy - at national, cross-border and transnational levels, 2014-2020.

Creative Europe - Support programme for Europe's cultural and creative sectors from 2014. European culture, cinema, television, music, literature, performing arts, heritage and related areas will benefit from increased support under the European Commission's new Creative Europe programme, which was approved by the European Parliament on 19 November and by the Council of the EU on 5 December 2013. With a budget of €1.46 billion over the next seven years – 9% more than current levels – the programme will provide a boost for the cultural and creative sectors, which are a major source of jobs and growth

EU Funding - The EU provides funding for a broad range of projects and programmes largely through five Structural and Investment Funds managed in partnership with national authorities. Other funds are managed directly by the EU in the shape of grants and contracts. This page tells you how to apply for funding if you are a small business, a third sector organisation, a young person, a researcher or a farmer.

Europe for Citizens - Funding initiatives to strengthen remembrance and to enhance civic participation at EU level for the period 2014-2020.

European Commission Financial Transparency System - you can find the names of beneficiaries of grants and other forms of support awarded every year by the Commission.

European Commission Guide to Funding & Tenders - Find open and upcoming calls for funding proposals, get background information on funding processes and programmes, and apply online. Learn about the tendering process and opportunities for doing business with the European Commission.

European Funding Guide - Search 12,320 scholarships, grants and awards to finance your studies in the EU

European Small Business Portal - Includes information about grants and public contracts for small and medium-sized enterprises

Horizon Europe - The Commission's proposal for Horizon Europe is an ambitious 100bn euro research and innovation programme to replace Horizon 2020

Tenders Electronic Daily (TED) - Business opportunities published in Supplement S of the Official Journal of the European Union.

Bibliographic databases and guides

About the EU - The EU in brief, institutions and bodies, countries, symbols, history, facts and figures

ArchiDok - started in 2003 as a long-term project of German and Austrian European Documentation Centres with the following aims:

  • Archiving of electronic full texts of relevant Organs and Institutions of the European Union for all policy areas
  • Recording and indexing of the collected documents
  • Development, update and presentation of a database of full texts with a direct access to archived EU online publications.

Bibliographies of the EU Council - These bibliographies contain a collection of literature on the European Council, the Council of the European Union and the Council General Secretariat. They aim to provide a picture of how these institutions have been studied during the last 50 years.

Comitology Register - documents relating to the work of the committees assisting the Commission with implementation of legislation.

DORIE - Dorie is intended for a specialised audience interested in European institutional matters. It is a collection of documents put together over the years by the European Commission for its own purposes. The documents concern EU institutions and decision-making processes, and various intergovernmental conferences (including the 2002-03 constitutional convention) that have made changes to the founding treaties. Dorie contains legal acts, minutes of meetings, articles and press releases, speeches by European leaders and internal Commission working documents and notes.

EU Bookshop - an online service that gives access to publications from the EU institutions, agencies and other bodies online. It allows users to search for publications by keyword, author and theme, to download copies in pdf format, and where possible, to purchase print. The site now contains all official EU publications issued since 1952.

EU Law and Publications  - Offers a one-stop shop for access to all EU law and publications, including Brexit from the EU's point of view.

EU vs Disinformation - This website is part of a campaign to better forecast, address and respond to pro-Kremlin disinformation. The ‘EU versus Disinformation’ campaign is run by the European External Action Service East Stratcom Task Force. It offers a database of disinformation cases and rebuttals, plus a collection of analytical articles, reports and studies about various aspects of disinformation.

EUROCAT - Index to EU documentation covering the period 1985-2000, EUROCAT consists of CD-ROM available from the Enquiry Desk for Workstation 1 in the Social Sciences Reading Room.

European Parliamentary Research Service Blog: What Think Tanks Are Thinking - Posts on topical issues bring together commentaries and studies by international think tanks and research institutes.

The European Union: a Bibliography - Extensive bibliography of works in English and French on the European Union, covering primary and secondary sources to ca. 2005. Subjects covered include general history, the EU and member states, European law and treaties, the EU institutions, policy-making and policies, external relations and the common foreign and security policy.

European Sources Online - An online database which provides access to information on the institutions and activities of the European Union, the countries, regions and other international organisations of Europe, and on the issues of importance to European citizens and stakeholders. It provides access to thousands of expertly selected, well known and less well known websites, documents and publications from the EU and other international organisations, national governments, think tanks, stakeholder organisations, working papers etc, plus bibliographic records to key academic textbooks and periodical articles, and a series of unique Information Guides compiled by the ESO Editorial Team.

Find-ER - is a tool for searching multiple library resources in one interface. It includes the European Commission Library collections, plus millions of online full-text journal articles and eBooks.

Official Documents from EU Institutions on Europa gives details of the publications of all the European institutions together with links to online versions. It includes green and white papers from 1996 and gives access to the document registers of the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union, the European Commission, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. Registers can include both published and unpublished documents. In some cases the full text of documents is directly accessible from the registers. In other cases only a brief citation is supplied and the document must be requested.

OPac - The EU Publications Office online public access catalogue.

ORBIS - Open Repository Base on International Strategic Studies is the first global foresight hub. Discover the long-term trends that will shape society

PublicAccess.eu - PublicAccess.eu is a pilot project launched in 2014 by the European Parliament to facilitate online access to a wider range of unclassified documents held by EU institutions, and to increase the transparency of decision-making in the EU. The main objectives of the pilot project are to identify and bring together the relevant unclassified documents which can be made available to the public in a user-friendly way.

Think Tank Repository - Searchable repository of think tank publications on EU affairs, based on the EU Council Library's Think Tank Review

Think Tank Review - A monthly selection of EU-related papers published by think tanks across the world created by the EU Council Library

URBIS - Unified Repository Base on Implementation Studies gathers responses to the European Commission's annual work programme  from interest groups, think tanks, etc for members of the European Parliament before they start amending legislative proposals.

History of the EU

Archive of European Integration - the AEI is an online repository and archive of research materials on European integration. It contains both independently produced research and EU documents.

Bibliographies of the EU Council - These bibliographies contain a collection of literature on the European Council, the Council of the European Union and the Council General Secretariat. They aim to provide a picture of how these institutions have been studied during the last 50 years.

Central Archives of the European Council/Council of the European Union

Centre Virtuel de la Connaissance sur l’Europe (CVCE) - Luxembourg-based public undertaking whose mission is o contribute to a deeper understanding of the European integration process from a historical, legal, political and economic perspective. Offers a digital library on the European integration process analysed from a transnational and multidimensional perspective and an oral history of European integration collection..

The Historical Archives of the European Union - held at the European University Institute in Florence

EU legislative process and legal databases

Better regulation - the better regulation agenda is about designing and evaluating EU policies and laws transparently, with evidence, and backed up by the views of citizens and stakeholders. It covers all policy areas and aims for targeted regulation that goes no further than required, in order to achieve objectives and bring benefits at minimum cost.

Competition Directorate - has texts of all competition legislation and decisions.

Commission on European Family Law - works towards the harmonisation of family law within Europe. The website provides information on principles of European family law, country reports by topic and jurisdiction, and a list of publications in the field.

Curia - case law of the European Union Court of Justice, the General Court and the Civil Service Tribunal, searchable by case number and party name. There is also a digest of case law and an alphabetical list of topics.

Directory of Legal Acts - Browse by subject to find EU legislation currently in force. Includes agreements, directives, regulations, decisions and consolidated texts. There are also directories of preparatory documents, consolidated acts, case law and international agreements.

EUR-Lex - the key portal to legal and judicial materials of the EU updated daily. It includes the Official Journal from 1952, treaties, consolidated legislation, legislation in force, summaries of legislation by topic, preparatory acts (COM, JOIN and SEC/SWD documents), legislative histories (called lawmaking procedures) and case law.

European Council on Refugees and Exiles - proposals and informed comments on refugee and asylum law

European Criminal Law Academic Network - ECLAN is the result of a project led by the Institute for European Studies at Université Libre de Bruxelles, part-funded by the European Commission under the AGIS programme. Its objective is to promote academic research and education on the field of European criminal law. The website contains a detailed database of legal instruments (e.g. documents concerning the Stockholm Programme, draft and adopted Directives, cases from the Court of Justice), plus relevant publications (books and journal articles).

European Database of Asylum Law - EDAL contains case law from 22 European states interpreting refugee and asylum law as well as from the CJEU and ECtHR. EDAL summarises relevant case law in English and the Member State’s national language and provides a link to, and/or pdf. of, the full text of the original judgment where available. There is also a section containing national legislation, European instruments and international instruments dealing with asylum topics.

European e-justice portal - an electronic one-stop-shop for access to justice throughout the EU. The web site benefits citizens, businesses, lawyers and judges with cross-border legal questions. With more than 12,000 pages of content, the portal provides information and links on laws and practices in all Member States. For example, the portal offers information on legal aid, judicial training, and videoconferencing in cross-border cases. There are links to legal databases, and online insolvency and land registers. 

European environmental law - full text cases, legislation and other documents related to European Environmental Law. The site hosts very useful dossiers on specific subjects and overviews of documents relating to specific sectors such as Air, Chemicals and Climate Change.

European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction Law Topics Page - Offers a wide range of resources on drug-related laws in Europe. Some of the topics covered include legislation, enforcement and criminal justice systems, as well as different national approaches to specific problems.

European Pillar of Social Rights - the European Pillar of Social Rights is about delivering new and more effective rights for citizens. It has 3 main categories: Equal opportunities and access to the labour market; fair working conditions; and social protection and inclusion

Family Law - Family law issues from the European point of view for international families.

Interinstitutional Register of Delegated Acts - Provides access to the various steps in the preparation, adoption, scrutiny and publication of delegated acts. You can search:

  • A database of delegated acts, with complete legislative histories
  • A database of legislative acts, with a list of the delegated acts produced under each one
  • Meetings of expert groups which help to prepare delegated acts

JURE Case Law - The JURE (Jurisdiction, recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters) collection contains relevant judgmentsdelivered by courts in contracting states (EU member states and if applicable Iceland, Norway and Switzerland) and the EU Court of Justice under the Brussels Convention (1968), the Lugano Convention (1988), Brussels I and II Regulations (2000), New Brussels II Regulation (2003) New Lugano Convention (2007) and Brussels I Regulation - recast (2012).

Legislative Train - interactive tool created by the European Parliament to show progress with legislation introduced to support the European Commission's priorities

Legislative Observatory - European Parliament site which monitors the progress of proposed legislation (directives and regulations), with links to all primary documents associated with proposals and initiatives. Useful summaries of each stage reached in the policy-making process are provided.

Pre-Lex - the database of inter-institutional procedures formerly followed the major stages of the decision-making process between the Commission and the other institutions. It has been withdrawn as a standalone database, but the information is now available in the 'Procedures' section of EUR-Lex.

Summaries of Legislation - offers summaries of EU legislation in key policy areas, with links to most important primary documents.

Treaties Office Database - the database contains all the bilateral and multilateral treaties or agreements concluded by the European Community, the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC) and the former European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), and those concluded under the Treaty on European Union. Agreements signed but not yet in force are identified by an asterisk (*).

Transposition into national law

N-Lex - this service allows you to search national legislative websites using a common search page

National Case Law - Find national case law references concerning EU law, mainly from member states, but also from Canada, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, EFTA and the European Court of Human Rights.

National Transposition Measures - find measures taken by member states to incorporate an EU directive into national law:

TAIEX Law Approximation Database - offers a global overview of the legislative progress of candidate countries in the process of approximation of national legislation to the EU acquis communautaire. For the last few years it has been a working tool for the administration of the candidate countries and for the exchange of information between the candidate countries and the European Commission. It has now been decided to open it to the general public in a renewed presentation, in order to provide a comprehensive picture of the progress accomplished.

European Union institutions

European Council - defines the general political direction and priorities of the European Union. With the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon on 1 December 2009, it has become an official institution. The web site includes Council conclusions from 1975, a link to the joint European Council/Council of the EU documents register and a link to the President's web pages. The joint meetings calendar leads to a dedicated page for each meeting, with links to related documents.

Council of the European Union - The Council negotiates and adopts EU laws, coordinates member states' policies, develops the EU's common foreign and security policy, concludes international agreements, and adopts the budget.  The Register of Council Documents contains references; those which have been released to the public are available in full text. The joint meetings calendar leads to a dedicated page for each meeting, with links to related documents.

European Commission

European Commission Representation in the UK - site has news, Euromyths, and contact details for all EU information providers supported by the Commission.

European Parliament - the web site includes plenary debates, minutes, texts tabled and adopted at plenary sessions, Parliamentary Questions, committee documents, etc. There is also:

  • Factsheets on the European Union, covering all aspects of EU policy.
  • Information Office in the United Kingdom - includes a directory of UK MEPs, news releases, and a weekly newsletter on what is happening in the EP.
  • European Parliament Think Tank - The European Parliamentary Research Service provides comprehensive research and analytical support to the Members of the European Parliament, its parliamentary committees and the European Parliament as a whole. It produces “At a glance” publications (1-2 pages), Briefings (3-10 pages), In-depth analyses (11-36 pages) and Studies (37 pages or more), which are all available free online. You can browse by policy area, publication type, author and gepgraphical area.

European Court of Auditors - reports of independent audits of the EU's collection and spending of funds.

European Economic and Social Committee - activities, documents and opinions / information reports of the Committee.

The Committee of the Regions - details of the work and publications of the committee, including access to the public documents register and opinions database.

European Central Bank - web site offers statistical data, the Economic Bulletin (formerly Monthly Bulletin), Annual Report, Convergence Report and research, occasional and legal papers.

European Investment Bank - the bank finances, on favourable terms, projects which advance the objectives of the EU. The site offers access to the Bank's research and policy reports on the EU economy and surveys

European External Action Service - acts as the Foreign Ministry and Diplomatic Corps of the EU, working under the authority of the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. The website includes speeches, statements, policy outlines and information on EU activities worldwide

Agencies of the EU - links to the web sites of EU specialist agencies, categorised as Decentralised agencies, Security and Defence, executive, Euratom agencies and bodies, and other organisations.

European statistical information

Eurobarometer - public opinion and attitude surveys

European Union Open Data Portal - the single point of access to a growing range of data from the institutions and other bodies of the European Union (EU). Data are free for you to use and reuse for commercial or non-commercial purposes.

Eurostat - free access to all publications and data

Statistical Data Warehouse - economic and financial indicators supplied by the European Central Bank

European Studies online journals

Europe Now - An online monthly journal, with a blog that publishes weekly. It features research, criticism and journalism on Europealongside literary non-fiction, fiction, poetry, translations and visual art from or concerning Europe.

European Integration Online Papers - the only peer reviewed E-journal in the field of European integration, which ran 1997-2015.

European Union Politics - an international academic journal for advanced peer reviewed research and scholarship on all aspects of the process of government, politics and policy in the European Union

Journal of Common Market Studies - covers all aspects of European integration

Journal of Contemporary European Research - the JCER is devoted to promoting original research and insightful debate in European Studies by publishing academic articles, commentary pieces, policy analysis and book reviews across the fields of European Politics, Law, International Relations, Economics and Sociology.

Blogs, new and social media

Brexit Blog - from the LSE

EU Law Analysis - Expert insight into EU law from Prof Steve Peers, University of Essex

EUROPP - LSE blog on European Politics and Policy

EU Tube - The European Commission uses video to communicate with the public

European Parliament Multimedia Centre - The Multimedia Centre is a one-stop-shop for the latest news stories about the European Parliament via live video/audio, edited video, photographs and archive material.

European Union Social Networks  - Use this search tool to find social media accounts with EU input.

TVlink Europe - European features service for TV professionals