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Referencing - UK & EU Law: EU treaty

How do I reference an EU treaty?

This guidance applies whether you found the treaty in print or online.

legislation title | [year] | OJ series | issue/first page

Footnote and bibliography:
e.g. Consolidated Version of the Treaty on European Union [2008] OJ C115/13

To pinpoint, follow the citation with a comma, the relevant term or abbreviation and a number or letter. To pinpoint several articles (for example), insert a dash between the article numbers:
e.g. Consolidated Version of the Treaty on European Union [2008] OJ C115/13, art 2

Term Abbreviation
article/articles art/arts
paragraph/paragraphs para/paras

Legislation title

  • Do not include 'The' at the beginning of the title
  • Use capitals for the major words
  • Include details of amendments in the title, if necessary.

Year

The year is always given in [square brackets].

Official Journal reference

The main source for EU legislation is the Official Journal of the European Union (OJ), which comprises two series:

  • L series - official source for EU legislation
  • C series - information and notices.

Older treaties were published in the C series. Most legislation is now published in the L series (with the exception of the Lisbon Treaty).