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Glossary

Directive: EC decisions which are binding upon the EC institutions and the Member States, but as general instructions on the goal to be achieved: the way in which the goal is to be attained is left to the discretion of each Member State.

Directorate-General (DG): The 23 DGs are the principal administrative agencies of the Commission. They carry out, or ensure that the Member States implement, EC policy and administer allocations from the budget to various policy areas. Each DG is responsible for a different policy area. They are similar in many ways to a Government Department or Ministry.

Double-banking: transposing a piece of European regulation which covers a specific area without removing existing national law covering the same area, thus creating a double layer of legislation

Europa: the name for the EU’s internet portal.

European Community (EC): The part of the EU which, for legal purposes, is the source of European legislation (the EU itself does not pass laws). Fifteen countries - Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden are members.

European Commission: The administrative arm of the European Community Executive, headed by a President and 20 commissioners and divided into 23 Directorate Generals. It has the sole right to initiate EC legislation. It drafts legislative proposals which are presented to the Parliament and Council. It also supervises EC activities and legislation.

European Council: The EU's main decision-making body. It is the executive organ of the EC, which represents the Member States, with one representative per country. Because it is responsible for a broad range of policy sectors, it has no fixed membership. The composition of each Council meeting is determined by a particular policy agenda. At its core are the gatherings of the Foreign Ministers, meeting collectively as the General Affairs Council. The Presidency of the Council rotates across the Member States at six-monthly intervals.

European Parliament (EP): The directly elected assembly of the EC, with limited legislative and juridical competence, though this has been extended in successive treaty amendments. It has the right of scrutiny and supervision of EC executives, and participates in the legislative and budgetary processes.

European Union (EU): An economic and political confederation of European nations, and other organisations (with the same member nations) that are also share a common foreign and security policy and co-operate on justice and home affairs. Fifteen countries - Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden - are full members of the organisations of the EU.

Over-implementation: introducing more requirements in UK legislation which implements a European Directive than are necessary to transpose the Directive into national law. This may cause unnecessary burdens for those affected by the legislation.

Proportionality: the principle that the effects of a piece of legislation should be in proportion to the result it is intended to achieve.

Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA): A way of evaluating a policy before it is put in place that shows what the likely consequences will be, including the likely risks, benefits and costs associated with all of the possible options. As an integral part of the whole policy making process, an RIA can be a useful tool for creating better regulation.

Single Market / Internal Market: a group of countries (in this context, the EU) with few restrictions on the movement of goods, money and people between Member States.

Subsidiarity: the EU principle that decisions should be taken at the lowest possible level.

Sun-setting: the inclusion of a clause in a piece of legislation to say that the legislation should be reviewed or cease to operate after a set period of time.

Transposition: the process of turning European Directives into national law. See also double-banking, over-implementation.