EUR-Lex Access to European Union law

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Ways to search EUR-Lex

Quick Search

Type free text, keywords or document numbers in the quick search box at the top of any page. This lets you search the whole database. Your search results will comprise documents containing your keyword(s) in their text, title and/or metadata (extra data about the document, apart from the actual text).

Search by document number or CELEX number

If you have a document number (e.g. Regulation No 1223/2009 on cosmetic products) or a CELEX number (e.g. 32009R1223), use the dedicated search boxes on the start page.

Advanced Search

Do you want to narrow your search - e.g. by searching only part of the database, by looking for documents whose titles contain a specific phrase, or by specifying dates or a particular time range? Then use the advanced search. This will give you more focused results.

Expert Search

You need to register to use this tool. It allows you to formulate your own complex search queries, based on your specific selection of the search criteria available on EUR-Lex. To formulate a search query, combine search operators and search fields, using a specific syntax. More on expert search on EUR-Lex


In the next few pages, we will look at how to use some of these search options.