Grahnlaw: Virtual EU law library

Looking back at more than 600 posts since April 2007, I imagine that Grahnlaw has grown into a small virtual library of EU law and politics.


Educational purpose

In the beginning, I looked at the United States Constitution, the European Court of Human Rights and at deciding moments in the history of European integration. Later, current EU politics and the Reform Treaty of the European Union became the main themes.

When the Council decided not to publish a readable, consolidated version of the Treaty of Lisbon, I started looking for ‘private’ consolidations of and materials on the new treaties, as well as campaigning for the publication of official consolidated versions in all the EU treaty languages.

I also began to present my own consolidated treaty texts, Article by Article. The Treaty on European Union (TEU) has been treated (more or less in full). Even if the Council belatedly decided to publish the new treaties consolidated, there are by now blog posts on more than a third of the Articles of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). The current policy area of this ongoing project is monetary policy with the European Central Bank. Universities and governments seem to be well represented among the readership.

The treaty posts have been interspersed with discussion about EU politics, especially questions about democratic legitimacy and accountability. The negative result in the Irish referendum led to long exchanges about the future of the European Union. There have been a number of posts on the parliamentary ratification processes in member states, but the Lisbon Treaty saga is still unfinished.

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Business interests

New themes have appeared, below the treaty level. Exploration of the practical side of the European Union (European Community) has started. I have noticed that the internal market (single market) including public procurement and competition including state aid, as well as enterprise policies (SMEs), are of interest to businesses, governments and other legal practitioners within and outside the European Economic Area (EEA).

In addition to occasional posts on various subjects, my aim is to advance through the Procurement Directive 2004/18/EC from start to finish.

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I have noticed that many readers arrive as a result of web searches, but sometimes the tail is too long. The search engine may have suggested an outdated entry, even when there are several newer and more relevant posts on the subject. At times, using the search options within the blog or looking at the contents or headlines of newer posts might lead to fresher information.

This virtual EU library appreciates comments, as well as hints about books and publications on EU law and politics. I have added a number of blogs and web sites to my blog roll, but suggestions are welcome.

Even if Grahnlaw in English is a fairly new venture, writing about EU law and politics has been a passion of mine for a number of years. Some of my earlier contributions on EU themes can still be found in Swedish and Finnish on various forums and my other blogs.

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As a writer and ‘librarian’, I can hope to educate my readers, but I certainly educate myself.


Ralf Grahn