This list of European Union Directives is ordered by theme to follow EU law. For a date based list, see the Category:European Union directives by number.
From 1 January 1992 to 31 December 2014, numbers assigned by the General Secretariat of the Council followed adoption, for instance: Directive 2010/75/EU.[1] Since 2015, acts have been numbered following the pattern (domain) YYYY/N, for instance "Regulation (EU) 2016/1627" with
Some older directives had an ordinal number in their name, for instance: "First Council Directive 73/239/EEC".
Social and market regulation
Business protection
- Council Directive 84/850/EEC concerning misleading and comparative advertising (1984), "substantially amended several times",[4]: Preamble (2) and replaced in 2006 by:
- Directive 2006/114/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning misleading and comparative advertising. The aim of this directive is to protect traders against misleading advertising and its unfair consequences.[4]
Consumer protection
- Directive 85/374/EEC: Product liability directive: establishes the principle of producer liability without fault applicable to European producers, such that "where a defective product causes damage to a consumer, the producer may be liable even without negligence or fault on their part".[5]
- Directive 98/27/EC on injunctions for the protection of consumers' interests, repealed by
- Directive 2009/22/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on injunctions for the protection of consumers' interests.[6]
- Directive on alternative consumer dispute resolution, Directive 2013/11/ΕU, issued on 21 May 2013.[7]
Company law and finance
- Seventh Directive: Consolidated accounts of companies with limited liability (Directive 83/349/EEC of 29/6/83).[8]
- Eighth Directive: Qualifications of persons responsible for carrying out the statutory audits of accounting documents (Official Journal L126 of 12.5.1984, on EUR-Lex).[9]
- Audit directive 2006/43/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2006 on statutory audits of annual accounts and consolidated accounts, amending Council Directives 78/660/EEC and 83/349/EEC and repealing Council Directive 84/253/EEC. Entered into force on 29 June 2006.[11]
- Directive 2009/49/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Directives 78/660/EEC and 83/349/EEC as regards certain disclosure requirements for medium-sized companies and the obligation to draw up consolidated accounts, 18 June 2009, intended to reduce the administrative burdens placed on businesses. Implementation was required by Member States by 1 January 2011.[12]
- Non-financial reporting – Directive 2013/34/EU, concerning disclosure of non-financial and diversity information by certain large undertakings and groups,[13] also known as NFRD,[14] was amended by Directive 2014/95/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2014.[15] The directives provide for "a certain minimum legal requirement as regards the extent of the information that should be made available to the public and authorities by undertakings across the Union" and require "undertakings subject to this Directive" to give "a fair and comprehensive view of their policies, outcomes, and risks".[15]: Point 5 Undertakings subject to the Directive are those with an average of over 500 employees during the reporting year. The directive is supported by non-binding guidelines on reporting methodology published by the European Commission on 26 June 2017.[16] There are about 2000 companies (excluding exempted subsidiaries) affected by the requirements of the directive.[17] On 21 April 2021, the European Commission adopted a proposal for a new directive to amend the existing reporting requirements, on which provisional agreement between the European Council and the European Parliament was reached on 21 June 2022.[18] The proposal:
- extends the duty to all large companies and all companies listed on a regulated market (except listed micro-enterprises)
- requires the reported information to be audited
- introduces more detailed reporting requirements and a requirement to use mandatory EU sustainability reporting standards (to be developed)
- requires businesses to digitally 'tag' the reported information so that it is machine readable.[19]
- The proposed standards were to be developed by October 2022.[19]
- Another proposed amendment to the 2013 directive was put forward by the Commission in April 2016 concerning disclosure of corporate tax information on a country-by-country basis.[20]
Insurance
The Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD, Directive (EU) 2016/97 of 20 January 2016) sets out regulatory requirements for firms designing and selling insurance products. It aims to enhance consumer protection when buying insurance, including general insurance, life insurance and insurance-based investment products (IBIPs) – and to support competition between insurance distributors by creating a level playing field. The directive replaced the previous Insurance Mediation Directive (IMD).[22][23]
Labour law
- Council Directive 91/533/EEC on an employer's obligation to inform employees of the conditions applicable to the contract or employment relationship
- Anti-discrimination
- Safety at work
Competition law and procurement
- Council Directive 71/304/EEC of 26 July 1971 concerning the abolition of restrictions on freedom to provide services in respect of public works contracts and on the award of public works contracts to contractors acting through agencies or branches. This directive required Member States by 26 July 1972 to abolish certain restrictions applying to freedom to provide services in the construction sector.[25]
- Coordinating the procurement procedures of entities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors directive – 2004/17/EC 31 March 2004, replaced by
- Directive 2014/25/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on procurement by entities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors and repealing Directive 2004/17/EC.[26]
- Coordination of procedures for the award of public works contracts, public supply contracts and public service contracts directive – 2004/18/EC 31 March 2004, replaced by
- Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on public procurement and repealing Directive 2004/18/EC[27]
- Remedies Directives: Directive 89/665/EEC (for the public sector) and Directive 92/13/EEC (for the utilities sector). These directives provided for interim orders preventing signature of a public contract, and require public authorities and utilities to inform all tenderers about the outcome of the tender process. Both were amended by
- Directive 2007/66/EC – the "amending Remedies Directive",[28] intended to improve "the effectiveness of review procedures concerning the award of public contracts".[29] In summary, the 2007 directive "strengthen[s] the remedies available to candidates and tenderers who feel their rights have been infringed in the award of public contracts, improve[s] the opportunities for unsuccessful tenderers to challenge unlawful awards, and increase[s] the possible penalties on contracting authorities for making such awards". In the case of a contract awarded in serious breach of the rules, it allows a national court to declare the contract "ineffective".[30] A statutory "standstill period" coming between a contract award decision and the actual award of the contract, and the immediate suspension of the right to award a contract where a timely challenge has been submitted, were established by the 2007 directive.[31] Recital 36 of the amending directive ties its objectives to the fundamental rights and principles of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, in particular to the right to an effective remedy and to a fair hearing.[32]
Environmental law
- Environmental assessment
- Plastics
- Directive 94/62/EC
- Directive (EU) 2015/720 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2015 amending Directive 94/62/EC as regards reducing the consumption of lightweight plastic carrier bags [34]
- Directive (EU) 2019/904 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products on the environment[35] (the "Single-Use Plastics Directive"), effective from 3 July 2021[36]
- Pollution and Waste
- The Directive 76/464/EEC of 4 May 1976 on pollution caused by certain dangerous substances discharged into the aquatic environment of the Community
- Packaging and packaging waste directive, 94/62/EC deals with the problems of packaging waste and the currently permitted heavy metal content in packaging
- Council Directive 96/61/EC of 24 September 1996 concerning integrated pollution prevention and control; replaced by Directive 2008/1/EC (see below)
- Landfill Directive, Council Directive 1999/31/EC of 26 April 1999, amended by Directive (EU) 2018/850 with effect from 5 July 2020 [37]
- RoHS Directive 2002/95/EC
- Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive ("WEEE directive"), Directive 2002/96, revised in 2006, 2009 and 2012, currently Directive 2012/19/EU on waste electrical and electronic equipment
- Battery directive (2006/66/EC in force from 6 September 2006), Directive 2006/66/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 September 2006 on batteries and accumulators and waste batteries and accumulators and repealing Directive 91/157/EEC. Directive 2006/66/EC was amended by Directive 2013/56/EU of 20 November 2013.
- Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (Directive 2008/1/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 January 2008 concerning integrated pollution prevention and control)
- Waste framework directive (Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on Waste)
- Environment – Other
Intellectual property
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