Types of EU legislation
Regulation
Community regulations are normative acts defined in Article 249 of the EC Treaty. A regulation is directly applicable in all the Member States and it is binding in its entirety which means it may not be applied incompletely or partially and it is a legal act binding upon all the institutions, the Member States and the individuals in EU. A regulation has general application: it is addressed to abstract categories of persons, not to identified persons, even though it can in practice be limited to certain categories of persons. A regulation apply in all the Member States from the day of their entry into force (i.e. 20 days after their publication in the Official Journal) and its legal effects are simultaneously, automatically and uniformly binding in the national legal systems. This means that no measures are required to incorporate it into national law and Individuals and legal persons may invoke the regulation in their relations with Member States, the Community authorities or with other individuals or legal persons.
Decision
Decisions are legal instruments available to the European institutions for implementing Community policies. Like the regulation and the directive, it is one of the measures provided in Article 249 of the EC Treaty. They are used, for example, for the purposes of competition policy to penalise businesses that operate a restrictive practice (cartel) or abuse a dominant position in the market (abuse of monopoly power). Unlike a regulation, which is of general application, a decision has specific addressees. A decision is an act binding in its entirety upon those to whom it is addressed, whether it is one or more persons (individuals or businesses) or Member States. Unlike a directive, a decision sets out the means by which the desired result is to be achieved. This means that no measures are required to incorporate it into national law and that it confers rights and obligations on individuals, irrespective of any national implementing measure. There are two further types of decision in addition to Article 249 decisions: decisions without addressees and third-pillar decisions (police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters). Decisions without specific addressees are atypical acts adopted under the treaties, like decisions taken by the Council under the flexibility clause (Article 308 of the EC Treaty). Third-pillar decisions, which are mentioned in Article 34 of the Treaty on the European Union (EU Treaty), can be applied widely as they can be used for any purpose covered by the objectives of Title VI (police and judicial cooperation) other than for the approximation of national legislation. In practice, third-pillar decisions resemble Community regulations, but they cannot be set to bind individuals directly.
Directive
Directives are legal instruments available to the European institutions for implementing Community policies and used primarily to harmonise national legislation in EU (Article 249 of the EC Treaty). It is binding in its entirety and therefore may not be applied incompletely or partially. Like a Community regulation or a decision, it is binding upon those to whom it is addressed. Unlike a decision, which has individual application, a directive has general application including everyone. The directive is a more flexible instrument; it sets the Member States to achieve a certain result but leaves them free to choose how they do it. However, experience shows that the wording of directives is sometimes so precise that Member States have little room for manoeuvre. Entry into force does not in principle imply direct effect in national law. In order for this to happen, a second stage is necessary: transposal. Transposal is carried out by the Member States; it means adopting national measures to enable them to achieve the goals set by the directive. The national authorities have to notify the Commission of these measures.
Green Paper
Green Papers are documents published by the European Commission to stimulate discussion on given topics at European level. They invite the relevant parties (bodies or individuals) to participate in a consultation process and debate on the basis of the proposals they put forward. Green Papers may give rise to legislative developments that are then outlined in White Papers.
White Paper
Commission White Papers are documents containing proposals for Community action in a specific area. In some cases they follow a Green Paper published to launch a consultation process at European level. When a White Paper is favourably received by the Council, it can lead to an action programme for the Union in the area concerned.
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Other EU terminology in all European languages
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