Directive vs regulation

what is the difference between directive and regulation

Dear Pramodh,

Regulations

A “regulation” is a binding legislative act. It must be applied in its entirety across the EU. For example, when the EU wanted to protect the names of agricultural products coming from certain areas such as Parma ham, the Council adopted a regulation.

Directives
A “directive” is a legislative act that sets out a goal that all EU countries must achieve. However, it is up to the individual countries to decide how.
This was the case with the working time directive, which stipulates that too much overtime work is illegal. The directive sets out minimum rest periods and a maximum number of working hours, but it is up to each country to devise its own laws on how to implement this.

Decisions
A “decision” is binding on those to whom it is addressed (e.g. an EU country or an individual company) and is directly applicable. For example,
when the Commission issued a decision fining software giant Microsoft for abusing its dominant market position , the decision applied to Microsoft only.

Regards,
Aparna