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  • Directive 98/27/EC on injunctions for the protection of consumers' interests, repealed by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Law Directive ': Coordination of safeguards which, for the protection of the interests of members and third parties, repealed by Directive 2017/1132, repealed by Directive 2017/1132Second Company Law Directive :' Coordination of safeguards which, for the protection of the interests of members and others , repealed by Directive 2012/30/EUThird Company Law Directive : Mergers between public limited liability companies, repealed by Directive 2017/1132Sixth Company Law Directive :' concerning the of public limited liability companies, repealed by Directive 2017/1132Tenth 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
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 (P&I) 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 ''''

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

Competition law (4406) and procurement (4411)

  • 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.
  • Coordinating the procurement procedures of entities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors directive –, 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.
  • Coordination of procedures for the award of public works contracts, public supply contracts and public service contracts directive –, 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
  • Remedies Directives: Directive 89/665/EEC and Directive 92/13/EEC. 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", intended to improve "the effectiveness of review procedures concerning the award of public contracts". In summary, the 2007 directive "strengthen the remedies available to candidates and tenderers who feel their rights have been infringed in the award of public contracts, improve the opportunities for unsuccessful tenderers to challenge unlawful awards, and increase 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". 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. 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.

Environmental law (5206)

;Environmental assessment
;Plastics
  • Directive 94/62/EC
  • Directive 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
  • Directive 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, effective from 3 July 2021
;Pollution and Waste
;Environment – Other

Intellectual property (4421)

Public regulation

Agriculture, forestry and water (5606)

Energy (6006)

Food (6811)

Pharmaceuticals (2836)

Textiles (6816)

  • Directives 73/44/EC, 96/73/EC and 2008/121/EC applicable in the textile sector were repealed and replaced from 8 May 2012 by Regulation 1007/2011 on textile fibre names and related labelling and marking of fibre composition of textile products.

Transport (4806)

;Rail transport
;Road transport
  • Directive 80/1269/EEC – relating to the engine power of motor vehicles
  • Directive 96/53/EC - laying down for certain road vehicles circulating within the Community the maximum authorised dimensions in national and international traffic and the maximum authorised weights in international traffic
  • Directive 2004/54/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on minimum safety requirements for tunnels in the Trans-European Road Network
  • Directive 2008/96/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 on road infrastructure safety management
  • Directive 2009/33/EC – the "Clean Vehicles Directive"
  • Directive 2019/1161, the revised Clean Vehicles Directive, adopted by the European Parliament and the Council in June 2019, and to be transposed into national law by 2 August 2021.
;Transport – Other

Communications and data (3231)

Media (3221)

Other

Medical devices (2841)

Weights and measures (2011)

Other safety measures (6806)