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EUR-Lex Tutorial

Access legislation, case law, and regulatory acts of the European Union in all official languages

1. What is EUR-Lex?

EUR-Lex is the official portal of the European Union for consulting EU law. It offers free access to:

  • Regulations, directives, decisions, recommendations
  • Founding treaties and international agreements
  • Case law of the Court of Justice of the EU
  • Preparatory documents and legislative procedures
Note: All documents are available in the 24 official EU languages, including their consolidated version.

2. How to access

  1. Go to eur-lex.europa.eu
  2. Select your preferred language in the upper right corner
  3. Use the search bar to start your query

You can search by document number, keywords, publication date, or topic.

3. Types of documents available

  • Legislation: Regulations, directives, decisions
  • Treaties: Founding treaties, accession treaties, bilateral and multilateral treaties
  • Case law: Judgments of the CJEU and the General Court
  • Legislative preparation: Proposals, opinions, and debates
  • OJEU: Official Journal of the European Union in all its series
Important: Always make sure to use the "consolidated" version when looking for current applicable legislation.

4. How to do an advanced search

  1. Click on "Advanced search" at the bottom of the search engine
  2. Define criteria such as: type of act, date, CELEX number, topic, issuing institution
  3. Filter the results by status (in force, repealed, in progress)

This is especially useful for searching for technical regulations on trade, customs, VAT, environment, or labeling.

5. Consult regulations on foreign trade

To search for rules applicable to import/export:

  • Enter keywords such as "import of agricultural products"
  • Filter by document type: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council
  • Sort the results by date to find the most recent ones
  • Click on "Consolidated version" to read the full text
Tip: You can also access regulations via CELEX from tools like Access2Markets and TARIC.

6. Practical example

Example: Consult Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 (Union Customs Code)

  1. Search for "952/2013" or "Union Customs Code"
  2. Filter by "Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council"
  3. Click on the consolidated version
  4. Download the document in PDF or print it

This regulation governs the common customs operations throughout the EU and is essential for exporters/importers.

7. Final recommendations

  • Save the documents in PDF for your technical files or legal procedures
  • Consult consolidated versions whenever possible
  • Use CELEX links for references in reports or theses
  • Combine its use with Access2Markets, TARIC, and EUR-Lex Alert to stay updated

Other useful resources

💼 TARIC EU 🌐 Access2Markets 📑 International Payment Methods 📘 Rules of Origin 🌍 Countries & Regions