EU web links

A collection of links to web sites of the European Union institutions and other European business web sites.

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Swiss companies

Swiss business directory - index of Swiss Business, Companies, Hotels and Tourism in Switzerland.

Constitutional Treaty for Europe

EU leaders reached agreement on a new Constitutional Treaty for Europe at the European Council in Brussels on 18 June 2004 - full text of agreed IGC document - pdf

European Parliament members

The European Parliament is currently composed of 731 members, directly elected to five-year terms.

European Parliament

The European Parliament (EP) is composed of 626 members, directly elected to five-year terms. Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) form political rather than national groups. The European Parliament now has a limited legislative role thanks to the co-decision procedure introduced by the Maastricht Treaty. The Parliament acts as the EU's public forum, debating issues of public importance and questioning the Commission and the Council. The Parliament can amend or reject the EU budget.

Millennium Development Goals - Europe Cares

The European Union has signed up to the Millennium Development Goals and is conscious of its particular responsibility as the largest donor of development aid and the most important commercial partner of the developing world. In order to advance progress on the MDGs, the Union has agreed on ambitious proposals in three main areas: the European Union will make more money available for development, it will improve the coherence of its policies and it will put a special focus on sub-Saharan Africa, the region most lagging behind in achieving the MDGs.

Business Environment - Ukraine

Snapshot of the business environment for the Ukrainian economy, from the World Bank

Ukraine Info

General news and information about Ukraine

Business Directory of Ukraine

Ukrainian Online Resources in English

Doing Business in Turkey (HLBI)

Guide on Turkey from HLB International, which has produced a series of international booklets on accounting, taxation and company law information.

Business Environment - Turkey

Snapshot of the business environment for the Turkish economy, from the World Bank

Trade Turkey

Turkey Business Directory and Trade leads of Turkish manufacturers, foreign and Turkish importers, and Turkish Products.

Turkey Browser

Turkey legal, trademark and patent portal

Doing Business in Switzerland (HLBI)

Guide on Switzerland from HLB International, which has produced a series of international booklets on accounting, taxation and company law information.

Business Environment - Switzerland

Snapshot of the business environment for the Swiss economy, from the World Bank.

Draft Directive on Services in the EU internal market

The objective of the Services proposal is to achieve a genuine Internal Market in services by removing legal and administrative barriers to the development of service activities between Member States. The proposed Directive would guarantee service providers more legal certainty if they want to exercise two fundamental freedoms (freedom of establishment and freedom to provide services) enshrined in the EC Treaty. This would make it easier for businesses to provide and use cross-border services in the EU, thus increasing cross-border competition in service markets, bringing down prices and improving quality and choice for consumers. The Directive will also strengthen the rights of users of services, for instance by enshrining the right of non-discrimination.

European Railway Agency

The European Railway Agency has the mission of reinforcing safety and interoperability of railways throughout Europe.

SCADPlus - Database of EU legislative summaries

Summaries of EU legislation. Clear, concise summaries of EU legislation categorised by policy area.

Official Journal of the European Union

Online editions of the Official Journal of the European Union in pdf format

Monthly summary of European Council Acts

This website makes it possible to track the EU Council's activity through monthly summaries prepared by the General Secretariat of the Council of acts adopted by the Council since January 1999. The the General Secretariat publishes a monthly document listing legislative and non-legislative acts of the Council, including the results of votes, explanations of voting and statements for the minutes when the Council is acting in its capacity as legislator.

EU legislation in force

The legislation in force as classified according to the Directory of Community legislation may be accessed from this page. The Directory covers agreements, directives, regulations and decisions. The Directory also gives access to consolidated texts, which have no legal value but which integrate a basic instrument of Community legislation with its subsequent amendments and corrections in a single text.

International Criminal Court

The European Union fully supports the International Criminal Court (ICC). The principles of the Rome Statute of the ICC, as well as those governing its functioning, are fully in line with the principles and objectives of the Union. The consolidation of the rule of law and respect for human rights, as well as the preservation of peace and the strengthening of international security, in conformity with the Charter of the United Nations and as provided for in Article 11 of the EU Treaty, are of fundamental importance to, and a priority for, the Union.

European Judicial Network in civil and commercial matters

This website, managed by the European Commission, contains a large quantity of information about the Member States, Community law, European law and various aspects of civil and commercial law.

European Union Treaties

The European Union is based on the rule of law. This means that everything that it does is derived from treaties, which are agreed on voluntarily and democratically by all Member States. Previously signed treaties have been changed and updated to keep up with developments in society. The most recent one, the draft Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, aims to replace all the existing Treaties with a single text and is the result of the work done by the Convention on the Future of Europe and an Intergovernmental Conference (IGC).

EU decision-making: process and players

The treaties constitute the European Union’s ‘primary legislation’, which is comparable to constitutional law at national level. They thus lay down the fundamental features of the Union, in particular the responsibilities of the various actors in the decision-making process, the legislative procedures, under the Community system and the powers conferred on them. The treaties themselves are the subject of direct negotiations between the governments of the Member States, after which they have to be ratified in accordance with the procedures applying at national level (in principle by the national parliaments or by referendum).

How the EU takes decisions

Decision-making at European Union level involves various European institutions, in particular the European Commission, the European Parliament (EP), and the Council of the European Union. In general it is the European Commission that proposes new legislation, but it is the Council and Parliament that pass the laws.