Regulation

An EU decision that directly binds all Member States and citizens in the whole of the EU.

Whereas directives need to be "transformed" into national law, regulations are directly applicable. It is therefore forbidden to change EU regulations when putting them into national laws.

Future

The rejected Constitution proposed that regulations should be renamed European laws - normally called EU-Laws, however, this simplification has been abolished by the Lisbon Treaty.

Links

See also Direct effect and Legal instruments.