[Image]University of Virginia Library Government Information Resources --------------------------------------------------------------------------- European Communities Alderman Government Documents Fact Sheet No. 23 University of Virginia February 1992 The European Communities, formerly known as the Common Market, comprises twelve European countries - Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands (the original six members of the European Coal and Steel Community, 1951), Denmark, Ireland, the United Kingdom (1973), Greece (1981), and Portugal and Spain (1986). With the implementation of 1992 unification measures, the EC will operate much as a large country, indeed the third largest trade block in the world. The European Communities are managed by four primary institutions - the European Commission, the Council of Ministers, the European Parliament, and the Court of Justice. The European Commission is the 17 member board which initiates and oversees EC policies, and acts much as the US executive branch does. The Council of Ministers makes major policy decisions for the Communities. The European Parliament is an elected body with proportional membership from each EC country. Though the Single Act strengthens the Parliament's role somewhat, it is still not as powerful as the Council or Commission. The Court of Justice decides in matters of Community law. The Court has the power to pass judgement on national or Community measures which might be in conflict with EC treaties. The Documents Section of Alderman is a depository for EC materials. In general the EC call numbers will class material as follows: EC 1 - annuals EC 2 - monographs or books not in a series EC 3 - magazines, periodicals, serials EC 4 - ephemeral, dated material EC 5 - laws, treaties, regulations EC 6 - conference reports EC 7 - public relations information, "This is the EC..." EC 8 - indexes, bibliographies, directories EC 9 - manuals, handbooks General Information on the EC Europe EC 3/EU 7/yr. - Current issues on Aisle 12, Docs. Reading Room The Time or Newsweek of the EC. European File EC 3/F48/yr. - Issued about 20 times a year Each issue covers a subject like EC institutions (#16, 1989), human rights (#5, 1989), Chernobyl (#12, 1989), agricultural policy (#1, 1990), or a review of the Single Act (#13, 1990). General Report on the Activities of the European Communities (EC 1/AC8/yr.) - Topically reviews the year in the EC. Gives citations to EC legislation in the Official Journal (OJ) (EC 5/J82/no.) The 1990 report includes a section on German unification. 1991 Directory of EEC Information Sources Post 10, Documents Reading Room Contains entries for the varioussection of the EC, publications, libraries, and related information sources. The European Communities Encyclopedia and Directory, 1992 Post 12, Documents Reading Room Gives some basic definitions of EC institutions, jargon and acronyms. Lists many EC officials and gives some statistics. Indexes VCAT European Communities materials received since 1989 are represented in VCAT. Some serial titles which began publication before 1989 are not in VCAT. Eventually, all EC materials will show up in the online catalog. International KWIC The "keyword in context" index is located in the Index Area of the Documents Reading Room. International documents are indexed by words in the titles of the documents. The titles of documents are usually reflective of the content, so if you are looking for a document on women in the EC, you might look under the word "women". Publications of the European Communities EC 8/P96/yr. - Aisle 18, Reading Room Topically arranged indexto the EC major publications. Once a publication is identified through this catalog VCAT and the KWIC may be checked to obtain our call number. Documents EC 8/P97/yr. & EC 8/D66/yr. - Aisle 18, Documents Reading Room Indexes COM documents of the Community. To do its work an international organization must produce many working documents, which are not formally published and sold. The EC, because of the way policies are adopted, produces many such documents. COM documents are issued by the Commission and cover such topics as EC directives on international trade, the environment, or EC unemployment. These documents are not, for the most part indexed in VCAT. Most of these "documents" are available on microfiche (EC 5/D65/no.). Statistics EUROSTAT is the arm of the EC which compiles and publishes statistics. The EC collects and publishes statistics dealing with trade, agriculture, the population, employment, energy, and much more. Many, but not all, of these compilations are listed in VCAT. Index to International Statistics (IIS) Table 19, Documents Reading Room Indexes international materials,including EC, containing statistics. Once you get a title from IIS, you must check VCAT or the KWIC for our call number. Laws Bulletin of the European Communities EC 3/B8/vol., Current issues on Aisle 12, Docs Reading Room Best place to start in looking for EC legislation. Published by the Commission, the Bulletin reports the activities of the Commission and the other institutions of the EC. Arranged topically, it summarizes legislation, opinions, regulations, decisions and the like, undertakenby the EC institutions. The Bulletin gives citations to the OJ, COM documents, as well as to earlier issues of the Bulletin. Official Journal EC 5/J82/no. - Microfiche Cabinet 13 Contains the official record of the EC. L section - legislation C section - information and notices D section - full text of debates of the European Parliament I section - index Treaties Establishing the European Communities EC 5/T71 - 3rd floor, Old Stacks Compilation of treaties which established theEuropean Coal and Steel Community, the European Economic Community, and the European Atomic Energy Community - the European Communities. 1992 The EC has published extensively on how the Single European Act will effect the EC and member countries. Most of these materials are listed in VIRGO. K= with such terms as europe, unification, 1992, non europe, and european integration will retrieve many EC publications. EC COM documents also contain many of the implementing directives for 1992. Research on the Cost of Non-Europe EC 2/C82R - 3rd floor, Old Stacks Sixteen volume set on the high cost of not implementing the Single Act covering such areas as North American markets, telecommunications, automoblies, and food. This is the complete report of the Cecchini committee which set out to "provide a solid body of scientific analysis regarding the costs of European market fragmentation, and thus the benefits [from] removal of barriers targeted by the Commission's White Paper". Completing the Internal Market: White Paper from the Commission to the European Council EC 6/M34 - 3rd floor, Old Stacks The orginal 1985 White Paper outlining the timetable for completing the integration of the European Market. This is the primary EC document on Single Act measures. 1992 and Beyond EC 2/B46A - 3rd floor, Old Stacks Journalist John Palmer was invited by the EC Commission to write a summarizing book on the progress toward 1992 and what's next. The book outlines for the layman what 1992 measures will accomplish. * Return to Documents Home Page * Return to UVA Library Home Page --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Government Information Resources Alderman Library University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA 22903-2498 (804) 924-3133