The European Documentation Centre collection includes a range of dictionaries, encylopaedias, directories, handbooks and guides with EU focus.
Parts of the EU reference collection are located in the EDC area (top floor); other parts are located in the main Library collection and Quick Reference Collection or QRC (Library floorplan ).
Online Resources
The ABC of European Union Law
The Lisbon Treaty entered into force on 1 December 2009, after being ratified by all 27 Member States of the European Union, and introduced changes to European law and institutions.
The ABC of European Union law by Klaus-Dieter Borchardt examines the roots of the European project and its development as a legal order, and is a definitive reference work on the subject. The author offers insight into how the European Union is built, its broad principles and the legal order underpinning it, looking at this in relation to the national laws of the Member States.
This book is intended for people with no specialist legal knowledge who wish to understand the implications of European law for their daily lives.
Selected background reading
Access to Legislation in Europe (2009)
European Commission
A guide that provides information on official sources of legal gazettes, consolidated legislation and legislative databases. It covers the European Union, the European Free Trade Association, the European Economic Area, as well as each of the Member States in these legal systems.
General Report on the Activities of the European Union (1995- )
European Commission
The General Report is published every year by the European Commission, as laid down in the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union, and it is presented to the European Parliament.
Encyclopedia of the European Union (2000)
Desmond Dinan (editor)
A reference guide for students, researchers and practitioners. It contains more than 700 alphabetical entries including extended articles notably on institutions, member states and key political figures written by a wide range of leading authorities.
The A to Z of the European Union (2009)
Joaquín Roy, Aimee Kanne
A dictionary about the European Union; includes maps, photographs, a list of acronyms, a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries on topics such as leaders, personalities, institutions, enlargements, member states, internal policies, external relations, basic theories, treaties, and law.
One Europe, many Nations: a Historical Dictionary of European National Groups (2000)
James B. Minahan
In short essays highlighting the political, social, economic, and historical evolution of peoples claiming a distinct identity in an increasingly integrated continent, the book provides both up-to-date information and historical background on the European national groups that are currently making the news and those that will produce future headlines.