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 (domain) YYYY/N, for instance "Regulation (EU) 2016/1627" with domain being "EU" for the European Union, "Euratom" for the European Atomic Energy Community, "EU, Euratom" for the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, "CFSP" for the Common Foreign and Security Policy year being the 4 digit year the sequential number. 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.Publications Office of the EU, 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 – unofficial English translation, retrieved 24 December 2020
Social and market regulation
Business protection (4006) Council Directive 84/850/EEC concerning misleading and comparative advertising (1984), "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.EUR-Lex, Directive 2006/114/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 concerning misleading and comparative advertising (codified version) (Text with EEA relevance), accessed 15 August 2023
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".EUR-Lex, Defective products: liability, updated 19 January 2016, accessed 28 January 2023 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.Eur-Lex, Directive 2009/22/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on injunctions for the protection of consumers' interests, retrieved 13 January 2021 Directive on alternative consumer dispute resolution, Directive 2013/11/ΕU, issued on 21 May 2013.ADR Cyprus Center Ltd., Directive 2013/11/EU on Alternative Consumer Dispute Resolution, accessed 29 June 2023
Company law (40) and finance (24) Business organisation/legal form (4011)Directive (EU) 2017/1132 is now the primary "Company Law Directive": it incorporates the 1st, 3rd, 6th, 10th, and 11th directives. First Company Law Directive (Disclosure): Coordination of safeguards which, for the protection of the interests of members and third parties (Directive 2009/101/EC of 16/09/09), repealed by Directive (EU) 2017/1132Directive (EU) 2017/1132 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2017 relating to certain aspects of company law (codification) (Text with EEA relevance. ), repealed by Directive (EU) 2017/1132 Second Company Law Directive (Capital): Coordination of safeguards which, for the protection of the interests of members and others (Directive 77/91/EEC 13/12/76), repealed by Directive (EU) 2012/30/EUDirective 2012/30/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on coordination of safeguards which, for the protection of the interests of members and others in respect of the formation of public limited liability companies and the maintenance and alteration of their capital, with a view to making such safeguards Third Company Law Directive (Mergers): Mergers between public limited liability companies, repealed by Directive (EU) 2017/1132 Sixth Company Law Directive (Division of public limited liability companies): concerning the of public limited liability companies (Directive 82/891/EEC of 17/12/82), repealed by Directive (EU) 2017/1132 Tenth Company Law Directive (Cross-border Mergers Directive): It facilitates the cross-border mergers of limited liability companies* in the EU (Directive 2005/56/EC of 26/10/05), repealed by Directive (EU) 2017/1132 Accounting (4016)Directive 2013/34/EU is the primary "Accounting Directive", incorporating the 4th and 7th directives. Fourth Company Law Directive (Annual Accounts): 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 (EU) 2013/34/EUEUR-Lex, Directive 2013/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on the annual financial statements, consolidated financial statements and related reports of certain types of undertakings, amending Directive 2006/43/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Council Directives 78/660/EEC and 83/349/EEC, retrieved 13 July 2021
Seventh Company Law Directive: Consolidated accounts of companies with limited liability (Directive 83/349/EEC of 29/6/83).EUR-Lex, Seventh Directive: consolidated accounts of companies with limited liability, last updated 2 December 2009, accessed 10 November 2022
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.UK Legislation, Directive 2009/49/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, accessed 6 November 2022 A proposal intended to simplify the accounting directives was put forward by the European Commission on 25 October 2011.European Commission, Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions: Single Market Act II - Together for new growth, COM(2012) 573 final, "Single Market Act I: Status of Actions", published on 3 October 2012, accessed on 4 December 2025 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,European Commission, Online public consultation on the review of the Non-Financial Reporting Directive launched, updated 2 June 2021, accessed 30 December 2022 was amended by Directive 2014/95/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2014.Directive 2014/95/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2014 amending Directive 2013/34/EU as regards disclosure of non-financial and diversity information by certain large undertakings and groups, retrieved 25 October 2020 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.European Commission, Communication from the Commission: Guidelines on non-financial reporting (methodology for reporting non-financial information), C(2017) 4234 final, retrieved 25 October 2020 There are about 2000 companies (excluding exempted subsidiaries) affected by the requirements of the directive.Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union (DG FISMA) (2021), Study on the non-financial reporting directive: Final report, retrieved 14 March 2022 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.European Council, Council gives final green light to corporate sustainability reporting directive, published 28 November 2022, accessed 30 December 2022 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.European Commission, Corporate sustainability reporting, retrieved 13 July 2021. The proposed standards were to be developed by October 2022. 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.EUR-Lex, Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2013/34/EU as regards disclosure of income tax information by certain undertakings and branches, COM/2016/0198 final – 2016/0107 (COD), published 12 April 2016, retrieved 13 July 2021 Auditing (4021) Eighth Company Law Directive: directive 84/253/EEC of 10 April 1984, concerned with the qualifications of persons responsible for carrying out the statutory audits of accounting documents (Official Journal L126 of 12.5.1984, on EUR-Lex). Communication COM(2003)286, 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 (ISAs) 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.EUR-Lex, Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament - Reinforcing the statutory audit in the EU /* COM/2003/0286 final */, published 2 December 2003, accessed 10 November 2022
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.European Commission, Audit directive 2006/43/EC: Law details, accessed 10 November 2022 Banking (2411) Capital Requirements Directive (CRD) for bank capital Payment Services Directive Financial Market (2416) Markets in Financial Instruments Directive 2004 (MIFIR, MiFID-I, MiFID-II ) Transparency Directive