Typical questions

• • Where can I find information on border control in the EU?

• • I need to find a COM document from 2009.

Starting points

• • One of the most difficult problems is the complexity of EU information. There are multiple bodies and websites. Added complications are that the Council of Europe is different from the EU and not all European nations are members of the EU! In most cases, library staff can offer only general advice to key starting points – specialist legal consultants should be consulted on complex issues. If local experts are not available, try consulting the websites of the key organisations.

• • Increasing amounts of information by and about the EU is available on the internet, however many websites are created by organisations lobbying for or against integration so remind students to evaluate resources carefully. This chapter highlights key academic resources. These include primary sources produced by the EU (laws, treaties and documents) and secondary materials (commentary in articles and books about the EU). Other related chapters where commentary can be found include the general Law chapter, International Relations and Political Science.

Recommended resources

Key organisations – scholarly associations

Use these websites to locate news on new publications, conferences and academic research.

European Union Studies Association

www.eustudies.org

Major international organisation covering all aspects of EU studies. Membership in North American and Europe. Provides useful links to recommended blogs and some full text recent conference papers.

UACES

www.uaces.org

Largest association for academic study of contemporary Europe. Website includes free access to articles from JCER: Journal for Contemporary European Research, feeds from recommended academic blogs and a large graduate student forum.

Key organisations – government

Countries that are members of the EU usually have local European Commission representation. A central directory is provided on the official website:

ec.europa.eu/info/about-european-commission/contact/local-offices- eu-member-countries

In addition, use the websites of national parliaments and governments to locate the relevant foreign ministries and parliamentary committees as these often contain reports and minutes of meetings with critical commentary.

Libraries

European Commission Library

ec.europa.eu/libraries

The website provides free access to the catalogue, which contains references to books, journal articles and reports. They include increasing amounts of full text materials covering recent EU policies and law. Older materials may be available in print only. For information about national EU information points, consult the directory: europa.eu/european-union/contact.