EU Legislative Process

A different system applies to the creation oflegislationat EU level. The EU is based on a series of treaties between member states, which are comparable to constitutional law at national level. Three institutions are involved in the creation of EU law (i) The European Gommission (ii) The Council of the European Union and (iii) The European Parliament. 

Binding EU legislation is issued in the form of Regulations, Directives and Decisions. 

An ED Regulation is directly applicable in each member state, without the need for transposition into national legislation. However, you will find that some supplementary national legislation is usually required so as to establish penalties and powers of enforcement at national level. 

Directives, on the other hand, are addressed to member states and require that they enact national legislation so as to achieve the objectives of the directives. Thus, a directive allows flexibility in how national legislation is enacted. In practice, national legislation will frequently refer you back to the directive, particularly when a directive contains large amounts of detailed technical requirements. 

In a sense, the articles equate to what you might expect to find in an Act at national level, while the content of Annexes would be more akin to what would be placed in regulations. There is also a parallel in terms of authorisation, in that amendments to the articles usually require the approval of the political institutions, whereas adaptation of the Annexes to technical progress is possible via a decision of the Commission, functioning as the executive body. You can see this in practice by just looking at the title of each instrument that you read. 

---

The criteria for the recommendations proposed under the systems framework are based on scientific evidence and previous regulatory decisions that have been subject to rigorous EU legislative processes. It is therefore anticipated that these regulatory guidelines should also conform to international trade laws. Because the decision-... 

---