The text of the treaties are published in the Official Journal of the European Union, the official gazette of the EU. Other treaty series and commercial publications described below are also sources for the text of the EU treaties.
The founding treaties are frequently referred to as “primary legislation.” In contrast, “secondary legislation” refers to directives, regulations and other forms of law described later in the section on Legislation. To access the text of the treaties listed below, click here.
Following is a list of the founding treaties that provide the legal basis for the EU:
- Treaty Establishing the European Coal and Steel Community, Apr. 18, 1951, 261 U.N.T.S. 140 (ECSC Treaty or Treaty of Paris). This treaty expired by its own terms on July 23, 2002.
- Treaty Establishing the European Economic Community, Mar. 25, 1957, 298 U.N.T.S. 3, 4 Eur. Y.B. 412 (EEC Treaty or Treaty of Rome).
- Treaty Establishing the European Atomic Energy Community, Mar. 25, 1957, 298 U.N.T.S. 259, 5 Eur. Y.B. 454 (Euratom Treaty).
- Treaty Establishing a Single Council and a Single Commission of the European Communities, Apr. 8, 1965, 1967 J.O. 152/1 (Merger Treaty).
- Single European Act, Feb. 17, 1986, 1987 O.J. (L 169) 1, 25 I.L.M. 506.
- Treaty on European Union, Feb. 7, 1992, 1992 O.J. (C 191) 1, 31 I.L.M. 253 (Union Treaty or Maastricht Treaty).
- Treaty of Amsterdam Amending the Treaty on European Union, the Treaties Establishing the European Communities and Certain Related Acts, Oct. 2, 1997, 1997 O.J. (C 340) 1, 37 I.L.M. 56 (Treaty of Amsterdam).
- Treaty of Nice Amending the Treaty on European Union, the Treaties Establishing the European Communities and Certain Related Acts, Feb. 26, 2001, 2001 O.J. (C 80) 1 (Treaty of Nice).
Consolidated versions of the treaties incorporating the changes through the Treaty of Nice are available in the Official Journal of the European Union:
- Treaty on European Union, 2006 O.J. (C 321) 5.
- Treaty Establishing the European Community, 2006 O.J. (C 321) 37.
The Treaty of Amsterdam renumbered the articles of the founding treaties. Citations to specific articles of the founding treaties prior to the ratification of the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1997 will be to the old numbering scheme of the treaty articles. For example, the article on the creation of the internal market is cited as Article 14 (ex Art. 7a). The ex number refers to the numerical sequence of the treaty articles prior to the Treaty of Amsterdam. A table of equivalences showing the correspondence between the old and new numbering scheme was published in the Official Journal on October 11, 1997.