EU legislative process

This subtopic contains a range of resources relating to EU legislative process, procedures and principles relevant to the types of legislation which fall under the umbrella of EU law, including:

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EU Treaties (and all their amendments)
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Regulations
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Directives
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Decisions
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Opinions and Recommendations
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Tertiary legislation (including implementing and delegated legislation)

EU law is developed further by the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union and legal principles developed by it.

The EU is based on the rule of law. Actions taken by the EU are founded on treaties approved voluntarily and democratically by all EU Member States. Under the principle of conferral, if a policy area is not cited in a treaty, the European Commission cannot propose a law in that area as it is not an EU competence.

There are different types of EU legal documents. A treaty is a binding agreement between EU Member States setting out EU objectives, rules for relevant EU institutions, how decisions are made and the relationship between the EU and its Member States. Amendments allow for EU enlargement, and areas of co-operation.

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