European Union Law: Secondary legislation

EU secondary legislation is made by the EU institutions.  The five EU legal instruments specifically provided for in the Treaties are:  Regulations, Directives, Decisions, Recommendations and Opinions.

The binding legal instruments

The binding legal instruments that make up the secondary legislation of the EU are Regulations, Directives and Decisions.  As set out in Article 288 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union:

• A Regulation shall have general application. It shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in
  all Member States.
• A Directive shall be binding, as to the result to be achieved, upon each Member State to which it is
  addressed, but shall leave to the national authorities the choice of form and methods.
• A Decision shall be binding in its entirety. A Decision which specifies those to whom it is addressed
  shall be binding only on them.

The non-binding legal instruments

Article 288 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union also provides for non binding legal instruments.

• Recommendations call upon the party to whom they are addressed to behave in a particular way without placing them under any legal obligation
• Opinions issued by the EU institutions give assessments of situations or developments in the Union or in the individual Member States. They may also also prepare the way for subsequent, legally binding acts, or be a prerequisite for the institution of proceedings before the Court of Justice

Recommendations and Opinions have moral and political significance, without being legally binding

The three other main forms of actions that shape the EU legal order without having legally binding effect are Resolutions, Declarations and Action programmes.