Legal Acts of the European Union

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Legal Acts of the European Union are laws which are adopted by the Institutions of the European Union in order to exercise the powers given to them by the EU Treaties. They come in five forms: regulations, directives, decisions, recommendations and opinions.^[1]

Regulations and directives can be either legislative or non-legislative acts. Legislative acts are normally adopted by the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament acting together, and have their legal basis in the treaties. Non-legislative acts are adopted by the European Commission in pursuance with powers given to it by legislative acts. Their function is to fill in the detail omitted by legislative acts.

Kinds

• A regulation becomes immediately enforceable as law in all member states simultaneously. It can be considered as equivalent to a pan-European act of parliament.
• A directive requires member states to achieve a particular result without dictating the means of achieving that result.
• A decision only affect the individuals to whom it is addressed.
• Recommendations and opinions are non-binding.

See also

• EUR-Lex European Union legal acts
• Law of the European Union

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 Staatenverbund
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

References