List of European Union directives


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. Since 2015, acts have been numbered following the pattern YYYY/N, for instance "Regulation 2016/1627" with
Some older directives had an ordinal number in their name, for instance: "First Council Directive 73/239/EEC".

Free movement and trade

Goods (2011)

  • Commission Directive 66/683/EEC of 7 November 1966 eliminating all differences between the treatment of national products and that of products which, under Articles 9 and 10 of the Treaty, must be admitted for free movement, as regards laws, regulations or administrative provisions prohibiting the use of the said products and prescribing the use of national products or making such use subject to profitability.

    Social and market regulation

Business protection (4006)

  • Council Directive 84/850/EEC concerning misleading and comparative advertising, "substantially amended several times", 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.

    Consumer protection (6806)

  • 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".
  • Directive 98/27/EC on injunctions for the protection of consumers' interests, repealed by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.
  • Directive on alternative consumer dispute resolution, Directive 2013/11/ΕU, issued on 21 May 2013.

    Company law (40) and finance (24)

Business organisation/legal form
  • First Company Law Directive ': Coordination of safeguards which, for the protection of the interests of members and third parties, repealed by Directive 2017/1132, repealed by Directive 2017/1132
  • Second Company Law Directive :' Coordination of safeguards which, for the protection of the interests of members and others , repealed by Directive 2012/30/EU
  • Third Company Law Directive : Mergers between public limited liability companies, repealed by Directive 2017/1132
  • Sixth Company Law Directive :' concerning the of public limited liability companies, repealed by Directive 2017/1132
  • Tenth Company Law Directive : It facilitates the cross-border mergers of limited liability companies* in the EU, repealed by Directive 2017/1132
Accounting
  • Fourth Company Law Directive : This Directive coordinates Member States' provisions concerning the presentation and content of annual accounts and annual reports, the valuation methods used and their publication in respect of all companies with limited liability, repealed by Directive 2013/34/EU
  • Seventh Company Law Directive: Consolidated accounts of companies with limited liability.
  • 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.
  • A proposal intended to simplify the accounting directives was put forward by the European Commission on 25 October 2011.
  • Non-financial reporting – Directive 2013/34/EU, concerning disclosure of non-financial and diversity information by certain large undertakings and groups, also known as NFRD, was amended by Directive 2014/95/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2014. 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". 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. There are about 2000 companies affected by the requirements of the directive. On 21 April 2021, the 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. The proposal:
  • *extends the duty to all large companies and all companies listed on a regulated market
  • *requires the reported information to be audited
  • *introduces more detailed reporting requirements and a requirement to use mandatory EU sustainability reporting standards
  • *requires businesses to digitally 'tag' the reported information so that it is machine readable.
Auditing
  • Eighth Company Law Directive: Qualifications of persons responsible for carrying out the statutory audits of accounting documents.
  • *Communication COM286, related to the Eighth Directive, aimed at reinforcing statutory audit in the European Union – Not published in the Official Journal. Objective: reinforcing public oversight of the audit profession; imposing the International Standards on Auditing for statutory audits in the European Union as of 2005; systems of disciplinary sanctions; establishing the transparency of audit firms; as regards corporate governance, reinforcing audit committees and internal control.
  • 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.
Banking '
Financial Market '
Insurance '
  • Directive 2002/83/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 November 2002 concerning Life Assurance
  • European Union Directive 2009/20/EC was implemented in all 27 member states by January 1, 2012. The directive requires compulsory protection and indemnity insurance cover for EU and foreign ships in EU waters and ports. Foreign vessels that do not comply to the directive may be expelled or refused entry into any EU port, although ships may be allowed time to comply before expulsion.
  • The Insurance Distribution Directive 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 – and to support competition between insurance distributors by creating a level playing field. The directive replaced the previous Insurance Mediation Directive.
Investment and Financing '
Criminal Law ''''
  • 6th Anti-Money Laundering Directive

    Labour law (4411)

  • 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