I'm no great expert on aircraft ops but in answer to your first two questions - the Official Journal of the European Union is the central and definitive repository of European legislation. Until any text is published in the OJ (as it is commonly known) it is not law.
The
OJ is available on-line although it's not always easy to find what you want. It's a sad fact - particularly in the minds of some CAA people - but it really doesn't matter what a magazine article says, it's the legislation that counts! Sadly though, my experience of EU legislation (mainly in relation to ATM and SES) is that it leaves much open to interpretation.