Publication of the Official Journal

SUMMARY OF:

Regulation (EU) No 216/2013 on the electronic publication of the Official Journal of the European Union

WHAT IS THE AIM OF THE REGULATION?

The regulation aims to ensure that the European Union (EU) Official Journal (OJ) is published in an authentic and legally binding electronic form, in order to enhance access to EU law.

KEY POINTS

Since July 2013, the electronic edition of the OJ has been available to the public at no charge on the EUR-Lex website in a non-obsolete format and for an unlimited period.
The electronic edition of the OJ is published under technical conditions ensuring the authenticity, integrity and inalterability of its content. The system put into place to ensure authenticity is described on the EUR-Lex website.
The Publications Office of the European Union is responsible for publishing the electronic edition of the OJ on the EUR-Lex website and guaranteeing its authenticity. It also manages the information system for the electronic edition of the OJ and upgrades it to incorporate future technical developments.
The OJ bears a qualified electronic signature or a qualified electronic seal defined in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 (see summary). Qualified certificates for the electronic signature or for the electronic seal are published on the EUR-Lex website to allow the public to verify the authenticity.
In exceptional circumstances where it is not possible to publish the OJ on the EUR-Lex website, the publication is done in printed form. Once the information systems are restored, the electronic version becomes the only authentic version.
Where certain information in the OJ is to be removed after publication in accordance with a decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union or in order to protect personal data in accordance with EU legal acts, in particular Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 (see summary), a new version of the electronic edition of the OJ concerned must be made available, accompanied by a notice to that effect. The original version of the electronic edition of the OJ concerned must be kept in the Publications Office’s archives for an unlimited period.
In October 2023, the Publications Office introduced a new production mode. The OJ is now published individually as an authentic Official Journal in PDF format.

FROM WHEN DOES THE REGULATION APPLY?

It has applied since 1 July 2013.

BACKGROUND

In 2007, the Court of Justice held in its ruling that EU legal acts are not enforceable against individuals if they have not been properly published in the OJ, and that making such acts available online does not equate to valid publication in the OJ, in the absence of any rules in that regard in EU law.

This regulation was adopted to allow the publication of the OJ in electronic form to constitute valid publication, thus making access to EU law both faster and more economical.

MAIN DOCUMENT

Council Regulation (EU) No 216/2013 of 7 March 2013 on the electronic publication of the Official Journal of the European Union (OJ L 69, 13.3.2013, pp. 1–3).

Successive amendments to Regulation (EU) No 216/2013 have been incorporated into the original text. This consolidated version is of documentary value only.

Choose the experimental features you want to try