Regulations do not have to be ratified by the national parliaments to have binding effect. In the event of conflict between a regulation and existing national law, the regulation prevails. Directives , most of which are adopted by Council and Parliament, bind the Member States as to the results to be achieved within a given period, but leave it open to the national governments to choose how to implement them. As such a directive does not have legal effect in the Member States, but its particular provisions may have direct effect if the directive is not duly transposed. Decisions are specific to their addressees, in respect of which they are mandatory in all their elements, with regard to Member States, firms and private individuals.
Decisions imposing financial obligations are enforceable by the national courts.