Soft law
Soft law
A soft law sets a certain direction or understanding,
but is not a legally binding statutory act.
Examples are: expression of political declarations, resolution,
Council statements, summit conclusions of the EU Presidency, etc. They are
decisions that are not legally binding, but are strong guidelines since they
are adopted by the heads of state and government.
Political declarations may be used by the EU Court to interpret laws, and are therefore called "soft law".
The Commission can also adopt a communication for instance regarding the rights of composers and then afterwards - based on this resolution - follow up by threats of lawsuits and fines. In this way, soft law can turn out to be quite binding.
