Comparing Law Across the EU in a Single Query

How the comparison works

The compare_norm tool takes a topic and a list of countries. For each country, it looks up the most relevant provisions in that country's legislation and returns them side by side. The AI then summarises how the rules differ: deadlines, conditions, exceptions. The links lead to the original text, so you can read the disputed point in the original or have it translated.

Example: “Compare the probationary period for employment contracts in Czechia, Germany, Austria and Poland.” The AI returns Section 35 of the Czech Labour Code, Section 622 of the German BGB, the relevant provision of the Austrian AngG, and the Polish Kodeks pracy, and summarises the maximum durations and possibilities for extension.

Country coverage

Czech legislation and case law are covered in full. For other countries, the basis is legislation from official sources (for example gesetze-im-internet.de, Légifrance, Slov-Lex) and case law to the extent that courts publish it in a machine-readable format; for some countries this amounts to hundreds of thousands of decisions, for smaller ones, thousands. The list_states tool gives a current overview, or you can simply ask the AI what it has available for a given country. Bulgaria is not yet included in the corpus.

Working with a foreign language

The AI reads the original text and summarises it in the language you use to ask your question. However, terminology does not translate on a one-to-one basis; the German “Kündigungsfrist” is not always the same as a notice period in Czech law. Ask the AI to give the original term in brackets alongside the reference to the relevant provision for key concepts. For decisive passages, ask for a literal translation rather than a summary.

For countries with multiple languages (Belgium, Luxembourg), the corpus works with the main source language. The link leads to the official portal, which often also contains other language versions.

Typical use cases

• Employing staff at branches in several countries: working hours, leave, notice periods.
• E-commerce: consumer deadlines and information obligations in target markets.
• Debt recovery: limitation periods and default interest depending on the debtor's country.
• Lease and real estate: contractual and notice requirements at the property's location.
• Academic work and legislative analysis: a quick overview of regulations for comparison purposes.

Frequently Asked Questions

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General information only; does not replace legal advice. Connecting the connector requires a Europaius account (free of charge). More About Europaius · Europaius IE