EUROPA

Community regulations are items of unilateral secondary legislation, i.e. they are adopted solely by the will of the Community authority. They are referred to in Article 249 of the EC Treaty, which stipulates that "a regulation shall have general application. It shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States."

A regulation has general application

It is addressed to abstract categories of persons, not to identified persons. This is what distinguishes it from decisions, as referred to in Article 249. The Court of Justice has indicated that regulations are aimed at general categories but may nevertheless be limited to certain categories of persons. A regulation is still a regulation even when, at the time of its adoption, it is possible to determine the number, or even the identity of the persons to whom it applies, so long as it is applied by virtue of an objective legal or factual situation.

A regulation is binding in its entirety

It is binding in its entirety and so may not be applied incompletely, selectively or partially. It is a legal act binding upon:

• the institutions;
• the Member States;
• the individuals to whom it is addressed.

A Regulation is directly applicable in all the Member States

This means that:

• no measures to incorporate it in national law are required;
• it confers rights and obligations independently of any national implementing measures. This does not mean that the Member States cannot take implementing measures. They must do so if necessary, in accordance with the duty laid down in Article 10 of the EC Treaty;
• individuals may cite the regulation in their relations with other individuals, with Member States or with the Community authorities.

Regulations apply in all the Member States from the day of their entry into force, i.e. 20 days after their publication in the Official Journal. Their legal effects are simultaneously, automatically and uniformly binding in all the national legal systems.

Basic regulations, implementing regulations and delegated regulations

The Community authorities may also adopt implementing measures: implementing regulations. This type of regulation is not mentioned in the EC Treaty, but its existence has been given legal recognition in Community case law. The validity of implementing regulations as legal acts is subject to their conformity with the provisions of "basic regulations". The latter lay down the fundamental rules, while the implementing regulations set out the technical provisions.