European Documentation Centre Alison Steed and Ross McClure, August 2020 QG LAW002 [https://www.abdn.ac.uk/library/documents/guides/qglaw002.pdf]

What is an EDC? Members of the public should contact the EDC European Documentation Centres (EDCs) are Library staff before visiting the EDC to ensure that part of the Europe Direct Information Network the material they require is available. established by the European Commission to ensure Which documents can we provide? that information about the work and policies of the European Union is available to all its citizens. EU Legislation* • Primary legislation – Treaties and Agreements EDCs are collections of material published and • Secondary legislation – Regulations, Directives, deposited by the European Union in academic Decisions, etc. institutions throughout the Member States. There are 30 centres in UK university libraries. Legislative and judicial process documents* Their purpose is to enable the study of European • Official Journal of the European Union ‘L’ integration within the academic institution and to (Legislation), ‘C’ (information and notices), ‘S’ make their information available to the wider (tenders for contracts) local community. • Debates of the European Parliament • Working documents, SEC, SWD or COM The documents in the Aberdeen collection date documents (legislative proposals, reports from 1952. They record all aspects of the policy and and communications) activities of the EU Institutions, Agencies and • European Parliament Reports related bodies. • Economic and Social Committee Opinions Today much of this is available on the internet • Committee of the Regions Opinions through, or linked from, the Europa website. • Reports of Cases before the Court of Justice of EDC staff can provide guidance on sourcing this the European Union. material online. Selected studies* Where can you find the EDC • Reports by the EU Institutions and Agencies in Aberdeen? such as the European Environment Agency, European Agency for Occupational Safety and The Aberdeen EDC is on the upper floor of the Taylor Health, etc. Library, one of the Site Libraries belonging to University of Aberdeen. There is a staffed information Selected statistics* point providing assistance from Monday to Friday • From Eurostat, the statistical office of the between 9 am -12 noon and 2.00 pm - 4.30 pm. European Commission. For those who require assistance but are unable to visit the EDC between these times, please contact * Some of the above documents may only be the EDC staff by telephone or e-mail to make available electronically. alternative arrangements. Internet sources Documents in the collection, except those on There is a great deal of information about the EU microfiche, are accessible when the Taylor Library and its policies on the Internet. is open. The opening hours of the Taylor Library • Europa is the official website of the EU. In and all other site libraries are available on the addition to news, press releases, numerous full University website. text documents including all publicly available Who can use the EDC? official documents, Europa provides links to all the EU institutions, agencies, and related bodies. The Collection is available to staff and students of this and other universities, colleges, and schools as • EUR-Lex is the gateway to the documentation of well as to members of the public. the legislative and judicial process. EUR-Lex provides direct free access to European Union All the material is reference only but can be law. The system makes it possible to consult the photocopied subject to copyright restrictions. Official Journal of the European Union and it Photocopying is available using a Multi-Function includes inter alia the treaties, legislation, case- Device (MFD) – please ask at the Issue Desk about law and legislative proposals. It offers extensive how to use these. search facilities.

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• EU Bookshop is an online service giving EDC contact details access to publications from the EU Staff: institutions, agencies and other bodies. In addition to the online bookshop, this service Ross McClure provides an online catalogue and archive of Principal Information Assistant EU publications. EU Bookshop allows users Address: Taylor Library & EDC to search for EU publications, order them or University of Aberdeen download copies. Taylor Building • Eurostat provides statistics at European level Aberdeen that allows comparisons between countries. AB24 3UB • Eurostat microdata Telephone: (01224) 273334 The University of Aberdeen is (01224) 272601 recognised as a ‘research entity’ by Eurostat. This allows researchers at the E-mail: [email protected] University of Aberdeen to request Website: www.abdn.ac.uk/library/using- access to microdata - the units of data libraries/european-documentation-centre-265.php that aggregate statistics are compiled Blog: EDC Information Update from - by submitting research proposals https://edcinformation.wordpress.com/ to Eurostat.

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