Directive (European Union)

European Union

This article is part of a series on the politics and government of the European Union

Executive Juncker Commission President Juncker (EPP) Vice Presidents College Civil Service Secretary-General Day

Legislature Parliament President Schulz (S&D) Largest groups; EPP (Manfred Weber) S&D (Gianni Pittella) 8th session (2014-19) 751 MEPs Bureau Vice Presidents Quaestor Conference Legislative procedure EU Council Luxembourgish Presidency Configurations General Foreign Justice and Home Economic Euro Legislative procedure Voting Secretariat Secretary-General Uwe Corsepius Directorates-general COREPER

European Council President Tusk (EPP) Parties List of meetings

Judiciary Court of Justice Members Rulings General Court Civil Service Tribunal

Central Bank President Draghi ESCB Euro EMU Eurozone

Court of Auditors Budget OLAF

Other bodies Agencies Investment Bank CoR EESC Ombudsman National parliaments

Policies and issues Foreign relations High Representative Federica Mogherini Ext. Action Service Foreign Policy Defence Policy Customs Union Enlargement Budget Four Freedoms Economic Area Area of FS&J Schengen Area Policies Agricultural Energy Fisheries Regional Citizenship Identity Pro-Europeanism Euroscepticism Integration Supranationalism Federalism United States of Europe Multi-speed Opt-outs Enhanced co-op Withdrawal

Elections 1979, 1984, 1989 1994, 1999, 2004, 2009 2014 (last election) Political parties Constituencies Referendums

Law Acquis Primacy Subsidiarity Treaties Fundamental Rights Membership

A directive is a legal act of the European Union,^[1] which requires member states to achieve a particular result without dictating the means of achieving that result. It can be distinguished from regulations which are self-executing and do not require any implementing measures. Directives normally leave member states with a certain amount of leeway as to the exact rules to be adopted. Directives can be adopted by means of a variety of legislative procedures depending on their subject matter.

Legal basis

The legal basis for the enactment of directives is Article 288 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (formerly Article 249 TEC).

Article 288

To exercise the Union's competences, the institutions shall adopt regulations, directives, decisions, recommendations and opinions.

A regulation shall have general application. It shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

A directive shall be binding, as to the result to be achieved, upon each Member State to which it is addressed, but shall leave to the national authorities the choice of form and methods.

A decision shall be binding in its entirety upon those to whom it is addressed.

Recommendations and opinions shall have no binding force.

The Council can delegate legislative authority to the Commission and, depending on the area and the appropriate legislative procedure, both institutions can seek to make laws.^[2] There are Council regulations and Commission regulations. Article 288 does not clearly distinguish between legislative acts and administrative acts, as is normally done in national legal systems.^[3]

Creation of a directive

The text of a draft directive (if subject to the co-decision process, as contentious matters usually are) is prepared by the Commission after consultation with its own and national experts. The draft is presented to the Parliament and the Council—composed of relevant ministers of member governments, initially for evaluation and comment, then subsequently for approval or rejection.

Legal effect

Directives are binding only on the member states to whom they are addressed, which can be just one member state or a group of them. In general, however, with the exception of directives related to the Common Agricultural Policy, directives are addressed to all member states.

Implementation

When adopted, directives give member states a timetable for the implementation of the intended outcome. Occasionally, the laws of a member state may already comply with this outcome, and the state involved would be required only to keep its laws in place. More commonly, member states are required to make changes to their laws (commonly referred to as transposition) in order for the directive to be implemented correctly. This is done in approximately 99% of the cases.^[4] If a member state fails to pass the required national legislation, or if the national legislation does not adequately comply with the requirements of the directive, the European Commission may initiate legal action against the member state in the European Court of Justice. This may also happen when a member state has transposed a directive in theory but has failed to abide by its provisions in practice.

Direct effect

Even though directives were not originally thought to be binding before they were implemented by member states, the European Court of Justice developed the doctrine of direct effect where unimplemented or badly implemented directives can actually have direct legal force. Also, in Francovich v. Italy, the court found that member states could be liable to pay damages to individuals and companies who had been adversely affected by the non-implementation of a directive.

See also

• Policy measures of the European Union
• EudraLex
• EUR-Lex
• Law of the European Union
• Regulation
• Framework decision
• List of European Union directives

References

External links

• UK House of Commons: Report of the EU Legislative Process and scrutiny by national parliaments.
• EUR-Lex, European Union Law database.
• EU Legislative Procedures

Judiciary and law of the European Union Judiciary Court of Justice of the European Union European Court of Justice (members) General Court Civil Service Tribunal European lawyer Relationship with ECHR Public Prosecutor European civil code Treaties Rome Treaty Merger Treaty Single European Act Maastricht Treaty Amsterdam Treaty Nice Treaty Lisbon Treaty Charter of Fundamental Rights Opt-outs Acts Acquis: Regulation Directive Framework Directive Decision Recommendation Procedures Ordinary legislative procedure Consultation procedure Assent procedure Commission and Council acting alone Commission acting alone Principles and terms Subsidiarity Supremacy Direct applicability Direct effect Indirect effect Incidental effect Gold-plating Four freedoms Host state regulation Home state regulation Acquis communautaire EUR-Lex Minimum harmonisation Maximum harmonisation Home country control State liability Proportionality Principle of legal certainty Principle of conferral Preliminary ruling European labour law European Enforcement Order Regulations Council Regulation (EC) No. 1206/2001 Council Regulation (EC) No. 1348/2000 Customs Regulation 1383/2003 Regulation 261/2004 EU-Eco-regulation Commission Regulation (EC) No 2257/94 Customs Regulation 3295/94 Regulation on roaming charges Brussels Regime CLP Regulation Regulation on Community designs Societas Europaea European Union System for the Evaluation of Substances Commission Regulation (EC) No 474/2006 REACH Rome II Regulation Directives Good Clinical Practice Directive Data Protection Directive ATEX directive Battery Directive Best available technology Biocidal Products Directive Birds Directive Capital Requirements Directive Clinical Trials Directive Computer Programs Directive Conditional Access Directive Copyright Directive Copyright Duration Directive (93/98/EEC) Copyright Term Directive (2006/116/EC) Cosmetics Directive Dangerous Substances Directive (67/548/EEC) Dangerous Preparations Directive Data Retention Directive Database Directive Database right Directive 2000/43/EC on Anti-discrimination Directive establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications Directive on the Promotion of the use of biofuels and other renewable fuels for transport Directive on the re-use of public sector information Directive on Electricity Production from Renewable Energy Sources End of Life Vehicles Directive CHP Directive Directive on the energy performance of buildings Directive on the enforcement of intellectual property rights Directive 2004/38/EC on the right to move and reside freely Environmental liability directive European SEA Directive 2001/42/EC European units of measurement directives Habitats Directive Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Internal Market in Electricity Directive Landfill Directive Directive on the legal protection of biotechnological inventions Directive on the legal protection of designs Markets in Financial Instruments Directive Measuring Instruments Directive Medical Devices Directive Posted Workers Directive Pressure Equipment Directive Rental Directive Resale Rights Directive Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive Satellite and Cable Directive Directive on services in the internal market Temporary and Agency Work Directive Trade Marks Directive European Directive on Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Unfair Commercial Practices Directive Universal Service Directive Urban Waste Water Directive Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive Waste Incineration Directive Waste framework directive Water Framework Directive Working Time Directive Cases ECJ Rulings (Caselex): Allonby v Accrington and Rossendale College Apostolides v Orams Bosman Cassis de Dijon Chacon Navas v Eurest Colectividades SA Chen Ciaran Tobin Coleman v Attridge Law Costa v ENEL Factortame Francovich Kamer van Koophandel en Fabrieken voor Amsterdam v Inspire Art Ltd Kolpak Microsoft v Commission Marleasing SA v La Comercial Internacional de Alimentacion SA Metock Nordsee Palacios de la Villa v Cortefiel Servicios SA Peter Paul and Others v Bundesrepublik Deutschland Procureur du Roi v Dassonville Ralf Sieckmann v Deutsches Patent und Markenamt Tanja Kreil Van Duyn v Home Office Van Gend en Loos Fraud Court of Auditors European Anti-fraud Office Accountability in the European Union European Union portal Law portal