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This paper describes the results of an exploratory survey by questionnaire distributed via a variety of information agencies, designed to investigate women’s information needs and patterns of information‐seeking behaviour in relation to the European Union. The results explore women’s attitudes to information and its value to them in a range of different life contexts, as well as their use of information agencies and of information and communications technologies. The results show that women value information highly and that they search for and use a wide range of categories of information in relation to education and their professional and personal life. Findings also suggest that respondents tend to predict high levels of future use of European information, in particular in relation to democratic participation and self development. Women were conscious of barriers to information access and suggested a range of measures that might improve access. They were generally positive about participating in training in the use of electronic networks and about the likelihood of their using networks to access information about the European Union.

This article aims to analyse the development of the concept of social dialogue in the UK as it has been encouraged by the European Union vision of social democracy. The starting points for the discussion are articles 27 and 28 of the Character of Fundamental Rights of the European Union on information and consultation and collective bargaining and collective agreements, respectively.

The European context for developments is followed by a historical sketch of the topics included in the discussion. Analysis and evaluation is then presented of the evolving concept of social partnership and the traditional forms of “social dialogue” in the UK – collective bargaining and collective agreements; trade union recognition for collective bargaining; disclosure of information for collective bargaining purpose. Some former collective bargaining systems are also included in the analysis.

The focus of the discussion is the influence of European law on information and consultation in three discreet areas – the transfer of undertakings; collective redundancies and health and safety at work. The general conclusion is that the discreet notions of social dialogue which emanate from the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union spell good laws, good governance and effective democracy.

The article analyses the development of the concept of social dialogue.

This article outlines the details of a British Library Research and Development Department funded project on the provision of European Union information in public libraries in the UK. It explains how European Union information is currently being provided to the public in the EU Public Information Relay and emphasises the issues involved in providing European Union information electronically.

The aim of this paper is to present some results from research undertaken into the information behaviour of European Documentation Centre (EDC) users. It will reflect on the practices of a group of 234 users of 55 EDCs covering 21 Member States of the European Union (EU), used to access European information.

In order to collect the data presented here, five questionnaires were sent to users in all the EDCs in Finland, Ireland, Hungary and Portugal. In the remaining EU countries, five questionnaires were sent to two EDCs chosen at random. The questionnaires were sent by post, following telephone contact with the EDC managers.

Factors determining access to information on the European Union and the frequency of this access are identified. The information providers most commonly used to access European information and the information sources considered the most reliable by respondents were also analysed. Another area of analysis concerns the factors cited by respondents as facilitating access to information on Europe or, conversely, making it more difficult to access. Parallel with this, the aspects of accessing information on EU that are valued most by users will also be assessed.

Questionnaires had to be used, as the intention was to cover a very extensive geographical area. However, in opting for closed questions, it is acknowledged that standard responses have been obtained with no scope for capturing the individual circumstances of each respondent, thus making a qualitative approach difficult.

This is the first piece of academic research into the EDCs and their users, which aimed to cover all Member States of the EU.

The British government has promised a referendum on whether the United Kingdom should participate in the European single currency. There are questions about whether the UK population knows enough about economic and monetary union to make an informed decision and from what sources they received that knowledge. The European Commission has instigated an information programme for EMU. The EC sees the system of European Information Relays as an important part of its policy on disseminating information on Europe. This study investigated the role of the Relays in this, and informing the public on EMU in particular. The East Midlands was selected as a case study and a series of interviews were carried out with librarians and users. The librarians believe that the Relays have a role to play as a disseminator of information from other sources, but are hampered in their efforts by a lack of resources, lack of awareness of the EC information programme and adverse user reaction to promotion activities. In addition, there is evidence of apathy amongst potential users, who are passive in their consumption of information on EMU, mainly from mass media sources. While this study is too small to be representative, the findings indicate that the EC should improve the presentation of its publications and better target dissemination to different Relays. The UK government may have to take a more proactive role in informing the British public about EMU. However, the findings also indicate that a bigger problem is the perceived lack of accuracy and neutrality of the UK media on this topic. Since this is a major source of information for the public, this could hamper informed decision making.

This paper aims to critically analyse the transposition implications of Union Directive 2014/95. This Directive identified the need to raise the transparency of the social and environmental information provided by the undertakings to a similarly high level across all Member States.

The paper considers how the European Member States of the European Union (EU) have transposed Directive 2014/95 into their regulations. The focus is on the juridification of social accounting in the pursuit of creating an overlapping consensus through Habermas’s concept of internal colonisation. The paper uses qualitative content analysis to scrutinise the national laws that transpose Directive 2014/95, discussing both what has been accomplished and what can be achieved by the release of future legislative provisions.

Despite the aim of Directive 2014/95 to create a common language for disclosing non-financial information, this study shows an implementation gap among and between Member States and an inconsistent picture of the employment of this Directive. Its implementation in the 28 European countries was considered a process of colonisation in implementing Union directives among European undertakings. However, the implementation process, which exemplifies Habermas’s juridification, has failed due to the lack of balance between moral discourse and actions.

This paper contributes to the ongoing debates concerning the implementation of mandatory disclosure of environmental and social information in the EU Member States, promoting new directions for the EU’s democratic laws on social accounting. In addition, it offers an example of how internal colonisation only catalyses effects when moral laws are legitimised through the provision of procedures.

Gives an overview of the European Commission and its directives, including its production of services designed to meet the needs of managers in information retrieval. Assesses its online and hard copy services, the network of European Information Centres and European Documentation Centres. Details sources of European information including business practices, trade associations, company information, legislation, market information.

Public access to European Union information has become an issue in European Union information policy. The Public Information Relay has been established in the United Kingdom in order to facilitate access to European Union information for the general public. This research project aimed to assess the effectiveness of the new Relay in facilitating public access to European Union information by interviewing some of the key personnel involved as well as other relevant individuals. Several criteria were set against which the potential effectiveness of the Public Information Relay was measured: the general public's opinion of the information they received; the Public Information Relay structure; the Relay members' commitment of resources to the Relay; the Relay members' participation in regional and national networks and the European Commission's commitment to the Public Information Relay. The research explored issues which are particularly relevant to an information provider catering to the needs of the general public.

Investigates attitudes amongst decision makers in the European Parliament to the role of information in their work, and their ability to identify, access and evaluate that information most relevant to their needs. Aims to elicit data regarding levels of satisfaction amongst MEPs in relation to information retrieval, and to identify areas of information need which were not being addressed. Describes research methodology and analyses results. Results reveal the wide range of subjects that are of interest to MEPs; that all MEPs have research assistants to help in their work, with an average of 3.5 assistants per MEP; the majority of these assistants are based in the UK and are employed full‐time; and that the most popular sources were unofficial, informal contacts and MEPs’ own files, as opposed to the official EU databases and services. Finds that the main problems faced by MEPs in information retrieval are pressure of time and the overwhelming number and variety of information sources available. Makes recommendations for further research.

European Union (EU) education policy encourages the integration of a European dimension across the curriculum to prepare young people for participation in the EU. This article discusses the findings of a survey investigating the European information needs of secondary school teachers in relation to the teaching of the European dimension. Interviews were undertaken with a small sample of teachers and school librarians in selected schools of Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire. The article discusses three main issues: inconsistency in the implementation of the European dimension at school level, ambivalent perception of what it actually means, and need for appropriate resources to enable teachers to include the European dimension in their teaching. The European Commission Representation Office in the UK has responded to the needs of the school sector by establishing a network of European Resources Centres for Schools and Colleges. Further research is required to assess the impact of these developments.