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.

The future

The EU Constitution proposes that regulations should be renamed European laws - normally called EU-Laws. Regulations would then become the name for administrative acts.

Links

See Direct effect and Legal instruments.