EUR Lex newsletter 20 February 2012
JOIN and SWD - new document identifiers for preparatory acts
To rationalise and harmonise the use of document types, the Secretariat-General of the Commission introduced two new identifiers for preparatory documents (sector 5):
- JOIN (CELEX code 5 JC) for joint proposals, communications, reports, white papers and green papers adopted by the Commission and the High Representative, and
- SWD (CELEX code 5 SC) for staff and joint staff working documents (impact assessments, summaries of impact assessments, staff working papers).
COM will still be used for documents drafted only by the Commission, while SEC is entirely replaced by SWD.
For more information, see our FAQ 1.13
Find preparatory acts - by document number
New in N-Lex
N Lex portal & national databases – more stable connections
N Lex allows you to query the official databases of national legislation in EU countries, using a standard search form (available in the 23 official EU languages).
This requires a robust connection between N Lex and each national database. A standardised, web-based connection system using XML has been developed to ensure that changes to national websites do not affect the connections with N Lex.
Latvia, Finland, Denmark, Spain, Netherlands, Hungary, France, Slovenia, and Germany have implemented the new system. And the UK, Austria, Bulgaria, Italy are working on it.
New design
N-Lex has been revamped. New design elements include menu graphics, horizontal tabs, a slideshow, news items, collapsible search criteria, a footer and interactive map. Content has also been updated and missing translations added.
Tell us your priorities
Please help us make N Lex better by taking a few minutes to complete our online survey.

