Due to the volume of caseload, in 1988 a lower court, the Court of First Instance was created. The Court of Auditors is concerned with ensuring the proper administration of the EU budget. The European Central Bank , together with its European System of Central Banks, is responsible for monetary policy and the Euro. The major sources of secondary legislation are directives, regulations , and decisions . Directives are binding as to the result achieved, but specific implementation is left to the member states.
Regulations have general application and are binding on the member states.
Decisions are addressed to specific individuals, institutions or countries. Directives, Regulations and Decisions are published in their official form in the European Union Official Journal, available on microfilm. KJE916 .E56 . They are also available in electronic form, as discussed below. Eur-lex is a valuable starting place for legal research.