What is a regulation?

‘Regulation’ is the designation for one of the various types of legal act used in the EU. The classic rules in EU cooperation are discussed in Article 249 TEU – namely regulations, directives and decisions. Article 249 TEU does not provide the authority, i.e. the legal basis, for issuing rules but defines their legal effect. 

Pursuant to the Treaties, as a starting point it is up to the EU legislator to choose which type of legal act is to be used. However, there are several provisions in the Treaties which indicate which type of rule is to be drawn up. For example, directives shall be issued in application of Article 94 TEU concerning the internal market. 

With regard to regulations, the Treaty states: ‘A regulation shall have general application. It shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.’ 

Saying that a regulation ‘shall have general application’ means that it is not targeted at a specific group of people, in contrast to a decision targeted at a specific institution or business, for example, or a small number of persons who can be clearly designated.

Moreover, the regulations can be applied with direct effect in the Member States and entail direct rights and obligations on the part of citizens in the individual EU countries. As such, no national legislation is required in order for the regulations to have legal force in the Member States. It is the direct applicability of the regulations, among other things, which helps to make EU cooperation unique compared to traditional international cooperation between countries. Although the regulations are directly applicable in the Member States, it is often left to the countries themselves to set supplementary provisions, for example with regard to penalties for breach of a regulation.