| TYPICAL ACTS |
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Regulations are binding legislative acts directly applicable in all Member States, defined by Article 288 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). They have a general application as they address abstract categories of persons. Regulations shall also be binding in their entirety; the recipients are required to give them full and complete application, with consequent illegality of any partial, incomplete, selective or delayed implementation by a State. |
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Directives are binding legal acts. They require Member States to achieve a set of goals allowing national authorities the freedom to choose the means and methods, in order to reach the aims. Even if they normally require national implementation, according to the European Court of Justice, unimplemented or badly implemented directives can also have direct legal force. |
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Decisions are legal acts of the European Union directed at individuals or specific Member States. They require authorities or individuals in Member States either to take action, to abstain or to confer rights on them. After the Treaty of Lisbon, decisions can also have general application. |
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Recommendations are a call for a particular behavior but they are not binding in nature. Though without legal force, they do have a political weight. Often, Recommendations are an instrument for the preparation of legislations in Member States. |
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Opinions are non-binding acts that express the view of an EU institution on certain issues or policies of a Member State. They can be issued by the main EU institutions (Commission, Council, Parliament), and also by the Committee of the Regions and the European Economic and Social Committee. |
| ATYPICAL ACTS |
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The Council produces the conclusions at the end of meetings; these are politically binding on Member States and have major influence on the direction of EC and EU business. |
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Acts issued by the European Council, the Council or the European Parliament, that generally set out jointly held views and intentions regarding the overall process of integration and specific tasks within and outside the EU. Their primary significance is that they help the future work of the Council to provide political direction and they make it considerably easier to achieve consensus in the Council. |
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The Communications can be informative, discretionary and interpretive. Through these acts the Commission exposes the rights and obligations from the case-law acts. |
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Discussion papers on a specific policy issue published by the Commission. These documents are primary for all those - both agencies and private actors - involved in the consultation process and debate. In some cases, they represent the first step of the subsequent legislative developments. |
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Containing proposals for Community action in a specific area. Sometimes they follow a Green Paper, when published to promote a consultation at European level. While green papers exhibit a range of ideas for the purposes of a public debate, white papers contain an official proposal in specific policy areas and provide the means to achieve them. |
