Directive (European Union)

The text of a draft directive (if subject to the co-decision process, as contentious matters usually are) is prepared by the Commission after consultation with its own and national experts.

The draft is presented to the Parliament and the Council—composed of relevant ministers of member governments, initially for evaluation and comment and then subsequently for approval or rejection.

Article 288 To exercise the Union's competences, the institutions shall adopt regulations, directives, decisions, recommendations and opinions.

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.

[8] For reasons that are not clear, the 1994 SI was deemed inadequate[citation needed] and was repealed and replaced by the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999.

In the important case of Francovich v. Italy, the ECJ extended the principle of Van Gend en Loos[10] to provide that Member States who failed to implement a directive could incur liability to pay damages to individuals and companies who had been adversely affected by such non-implementation.