Page 127 - SEVEN STEPS for COMPREHENDING the EUROPEAN UNION

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EU Secondary Law

EU “Secondary Law” is derived from EU treaties which, as we have
seen, constitute EU Primary Law. The legal acts which readers are
already familiar with, such as “regulation,” “directive,” “decision,”
“recommendation” and “opinion,” represent EU Secondary Law
documents. This section will further discuss these legal acts in more
details and legal terms.

- The implementation of a “regulation” is mandatory for
any EU member state. A “regulation” has to be executed
unconditionally and does not have to be integrated into
national legislation.
- A “directive” is an EU legal document which tasks EU member
states to achieve concrete results in particular spheres.
This said, EU members are free to choose the method for
achieving the result. Contrary to a “regulation,” a “directive”
has to be integrated into national legislation within a
particular timeframe in order to become a law. EU member
states should notify the European Commission concerning
the method/instrument which they use in this process.

- A “decision” is another EU legally binding document which
may be compulsory to all EU member states as well as to
some of them. Thus, a “decision” makes accountable only
those states to whom such a “decision” is addressed.
- As has already been said, a “recommendation” is a non-
compulsory document. A “recommendation” may express
the political positions of EU institutions concerning some
important topics of internal and external agenda.
- An “opinion” also represents a non-obligatory document
which EU institutions may use for expressing their position
through an official statement.