directive

noun · Richtlinie

Richtlinie, not Direktive, and it works unlike a regulation: it binds each member state as to the result but leaves the form to them, so it must be transposed, Art. 288 TFEU, and even after the deadline it can be relied on only against the state, not between private parties.

Which translation, when

Richtliniethe EU act that binds the member state as to the result to be achieved but leaves the choice of form and means to it, Art. 288 TFEU, so it takes effect through national transposition rather than directly.

Abgrenzung zur Verordnungthe contrast that carries the risk: a Verordnung applies directly with no transposition, while a Richtlinie must be transposed and, if it is not, can be relied on after the deadline only vertically, against the state, never horizontally between private parties.

Why

Directive is Richtlinie, and the first trap is the false friend: the German Direktive means an instruction or guideline, not the EU legislative act, which is always a Richtlinie. The second trap is treating it like a regulation. Under Art. 288 TFEU a Richtlinie binds each member state to which it is addressed as to the result to be achieved but leaves the choice of form and means to the state, so unlike a directly applicable Verordnung it takes effect through national transposition, Umsetzung, within a deadline. Before the deadline it has an anticipatory effect, barring measures that would defeat its aim; if the state fails to transpose in time, the consequences are infringement proceedings, state liability, an obligation to read national law in conformity, and direct effect, but that direct effect is only vertical: a person may rely on the directive against the state, not against another private party. So rendering directive as Richtlinie is right, but importing the assumption that it applies directly like a regulation, or can be enforced between private parties, gets its effect wrong.

Typical mistakes

A directive is a Richtlinie, never a Direktive, which in German means an instruction or guideline, not the EU act.
Unlike a directly applicable Verordnung, a Richtlinie binds only as to the result and must be transposed, Art. 288 TFEU, so treating it as directly applicable is wrong.
An untransposed directive relied on after the deadline has only vertical direct effect, against the state, not between private parties, so assuming a private party can be bound by it is wrong.

What matters

Advising on the effect of an EU directive in Germany, the memo has to mark it as a Richtlinie that binds as to the result and needs transposition, Art. 288 TFEU, and to flag that against another private party an untransposed directive cannot be relied on. Rendering it as Direktive, or as directly applicable like a Verordnung, misstates both the name and the effect.

Authority

Art. 288 AEUV
Case 152/84 Marshall

What the machine misses

Machine output renders directive as Richtlinie, mostly, but sometimes as the false friend Direktive, and then treats it like a regulation. It loses that a Richtlinie binds only as to the result and must be transposed, Art. 288 TFEU, not applied directly like a Verordnung, and that an untransposed directive can be relied on after the deadline only against the state. The rendering misstates both the name and the effect.

See what the machine does with this clause →

Examples

transpose the directive into national law	die Richtlinie in nationales Recht umsetzen
the directive must be implemented	die Richtlinie muss umgesetzt werden
binding as to the result to be achieved	hinsichtlich des zu erreichenden Ziels verbindlich
the transposition deadline	die Umsetzungsfrist