Sources of European Union Law | OCR A-Level Law
For Specification H418
OCR A-Level Law | Free Revision Notes
Estimated study time: 40 minutes
Sources of European Union law A-Level Law revision focuses on the three sources specifically required by OCR H418: treaties, regulations and directives. You need to distinguish primary from secondary EU law and understand the different legal effects of each source. This builds directly on the roles of the EU institutions [Institutions of the European Union] and prepares you for individual rights under EU law [EU law and individual rights] and the historical effect of EU supremacy on the UK. OCR's specification expressly limits the required sources to treaties, regulations and directives.
Learning Objectives 🎯
By the end of this revision page, you should be able to:
Explain treaties as a source of European Union law.
Explain regulations as a source of European Union law.
Explain directives as a source of European Union law.
Distinguish primary EU law from secondary EU law.
Compare the legal effects of regulations and directives.
Use relevant OCR-supported examples and legal authorities when describing the three sources.
Revision Notes 📚
What sources of EU law does OCR require?
For H418, OCR requires three principal sources of European Union law:
Treaties
Regulations
Directives
The specification does not require a wider catalogue of EU legal sources for this topic. Your revision should therefore remain tightly focused on these three.
A central distinction is:
Treaties are primary sources of EU law.
Regulations and directives are secondary sources of EU law.
OCR directly assessed this topic as an 8-mark AO1 question in 2023, asking students to describe treaties, regulations and directives as EU law sources.
Primary and secondary EU law
Before looking at each source separately, it is useful to understand the basic hierarchy.
Primary EU law
Treaties are primary sources.
They provide the underlying principles and aims on which EU law is based.
Secondary EU law
Regulations and directives are secondary sources.
OCR's 2023 mark scheme connects both with Article 288 and with the legislative roles of the Council of the European Union, European Commission and European Parliament.
This links directly back to the EU institutions [Institutions of the European Union].
A useful starting framework is:
Source | Type of EU law |
Treaties | Primary |
Regulations | Secondary |
Directives | Secondary |
Treaties
Treaties are the primary sources of European Union law.
They establish fundamental principles and aims which shape EU law and provide a basis for further legal rules.
OCR identifies three types of treaty that students may describe.
Founding treaties
Founding treaties created the European legal structure.
OCR gives the Treaty of Rome 1957 as an example.
This is useful authority to remember because it illustrates the fundamental nature of treaty law.
Accession treaties
Accession treaties enlarge the European Union by allowing new Member States to join.
Their purpose therefore differs from a founding treaty. Instead of creating the original structure, an accession treaty expands membership.
Amending treaties
Amending treaties alter or extend the scope of the European Union.
OCR gives the Lisbon Treaty 2007 as an example.
A useful comparison is:
Treaty type | Function | OCR-supported example |
Founding treaty | Establishes the EU legal structure | Treaty of Rome 1957 |
Accession treaty | Enlarges the EU to include new Member States | No specific example required in the supplied mark scheme |
Amending treaty | Alters or extends the scope of the EU | Lisbon Treaty 2007 |
What happens when a Member State signs a treaty?
OCR explains that by signing a treaty, Member States agree to create laws which meet the principles and aims set out within those treaties.
Treaties are divided into Articles.
OCR's 2023 mark scheme states that treaty Articles can be directly applicable, meaning that they take effect in Member States without further action.
Where treaty provisions contain rights on which individuals can rely, OCR also recognises the relevance of direct effect.
One authority identified by OCR is Van Gend en Loos.
The detailed development of rights and direct-effect doctrines belongs in EU law and individual rights [EU law and individual rights], so the main point for this lesson is that treaty provisions can have a direct legal effect within Member States.
Treaties summarised
For an OCR answer, remember four core features:
treaties are primary EU law
founding, accession and amending treaties can be distinguished
Member States agree to act consistently with treaty principles and aims
treaty Articles can have direct legal effect within Member States
Regulations
A regulation is a secondary source of European Union law.
OCR's 2023 mark scheme states that regulations are made through the Council, Commission and Parliament acting together under Article 288.
This gives regulations a different position from treaties.
Treaty = primary law
Regulation = secondary law
Regulations are directly applicable
An essential feature of regulations is that they are directly applicable in all Member States.
For OCR purposes, directly applicable means that the regulation takes legal effect without the Member State having to take further legislative action to bring it into force.
This is one of the clearest distinctions between a regulation and a directive.
Regulation
EU rule → applies directly in the Member State
Directive
EU result required → Member State determines the form used to achieve it
That distinction is extremely useful in examination answers.
Regulations are binding in their entirety
OCR states that regulations are binding in their entirety.
This means a Member State cannot select the parts of a regulation that it wishes to follow and disregard the rest.
The whole regulation is binding.
This contributes to another objective identified by OCR, uniformity.
Regulations and uniformity
Regulations seek to achieve uniformity of laws across Member States.
Because the same regulation applies directly and is binding in its entirety, it can provide a common legal rule across the states to which it applies.
A simple chain is:
Regulation → directly applicable → binding in entirety → greater uniformity
Regulations and conflicting domestic law
OCR also identifies the position where domestic law conflicts with an EU regulation.
The regulation has primacy.
The authority identified in the 2023 mark scheme is Re Tachographs.
The wider principle of EU supremacy and its historical effect on the UK is covered in supremacy and parliamentary sovereignty [Supremacy and parliamentary sovereignty].
For this lesson, remember:
Where a regulation and conflicting Member State law could not operate together, OCR identifies the regulation as having primacy.
Regulations and individual rights
OCR's mark scheme also recognises that regulations can have vertical and horizontal direct effect, with Politi given as supporting authority.
The detailed distinction between different types of direct effect belongs primarily in the next lesson, EU law and individual rights [EU law and individual rights].
For this topic, it is enough to recognise direct effect as one of the legal characteristics that may be used to develop an explanation of regulations.
Regulation summary
A strong description of a regulation can include:
it is secondary EU law
it is connected with Article 288
it is directly applicable
it is binding in its entirety
it seeks legal uniformity
it has primacy where it conflicts with Member State law
OCR recognises both vertical and horizontal direct effect
Re Tachographs and Politi can be used as supporting authorities
Directives
A directive is also a secondary source of European Union law.
Like regulations, OCR connects directives with the Council, Commission and Parliament acting under Article 288.
However, a directive operates differently from a regulation.
This distinction is one of the most important parts of the topic.
Directives are harmonising measures
OCR describes directives as harmonising measures.
They seek to produce greater consistency between the laws of Member States, while allowing flexibility in how each state reaches the required result.
A directive may be addressed to:
all Member States
a selection of Member States
an individual Member State
This makes directives more flexible in application than a rule that simply operates identically everywhere.
Binding as to the result
The crucial phrase to remember is:
A directive is binding as to the result to be achieved.
This means that the required outcome must be achieved, but the Member State is given flexibility over the legal form used to produce that result.
This differs sharply from a regulation.
Regulation
directly applicable
binding in its entirety
Member State cannot select its own form of implementation
Directive
sets the result that must be achieved
leaves the form used to achieve that result to the Member State
That is the core comparison examiners expect students to understand.
Implementing a directive
OCR's 2023 mark scheme explains that the form taken by a directive is left to the Member State.
When the UK was a Member State, it could use domestic legislation to give effect to a directive.
OCR provides the Working Time Regulations 1998 as an example connected with Council Directive 93/104/EC.
This is a particularly useful example because it illustrates the relationship between:
EU directive → domestic legal measure
It also highlights the important historical wording required after the UK's departure from the EU. When discussing UK implementation, frame it in terms of the period when the UK was an EU Member State.
Directives and direct effect
OCR's 2023 mark scheme states that directives are vertically directly effective but not always horizontally directly effective.
You should recognise this as one difference between directives and regulations.
However, the development of these individual-rights doctrines is the focus of EU law and individual rights [EU law and individual rights], so avoid turning an answer specifically about sources into an unnecessarily long account of direct effect.
Directive summary
A strong description of directives can include:
directives are secondary EU law
they operate under Article 288
they are harmonising measures
they can be addressed to all, some or one Member State
they are binding as to the result to be achieved
the Member State determines the legal form used to achieve that result
the Working Time Regulations 1998 provide an OCR-supported UK example
OCR recognises vertical direct effect, but not horizontal direct effect in every situation
Regulations and directives compared
This is the comparison you should know particularly well.
Feature | Regulation | Directive |
Type | Secondary EU law | Secondary EU law |
Legal basis identified by OCR | Article 288 | Article 288 |
Institutions | Council, Commission and Parliament | Council, Commission and Parliament |
Main objective | Uniformity | Harmonisation |
Directly applicable | Yes | Member State determines the form used to achieve the required result |
Extent of obligation | Binding in its entirety | Binding as to the result to be achieved |
Domestic implementation | No further Member State action needed for direct applicability | Member State chooses how to achieve the required result |
Can be addressed selectively | OCR describes regulations as applying in all Member States | Can be addressed to all, some or one Member State |
Direct effect recognised by OCR | Horizontal and vertical | Vertical, but not always horizontal |
OCR-supported example/authority | Re Tachographs, Politi | Working Time Regulations 1998 and Council Directive 93/104/EC |
Treaties, regulations and directives compared
For quick revision:
Source | Primary or secondary? | Essential feature |
Treaty | Primary | Establishes principles and aims of EU law |
Regulation | Secondary | Directly applicable and binding in its entirety |
Directive | Secondary | Binding as to the required result, while leaving the form to the Member State |
If you can explain those three distinctions and then develop each with an additional feature and example, you have the core structure needed for an OCR AO1 response.
Direct applicability and direct effect
These two expressions appear in OCR's mark scheme and should not simply be treated as interchangeable wording.
For this lesson:
Direct applicability concerns whether an EU rule takes effect in a Member State without further legislative action.
OCR expressly describes:
treaty Articles as capable of being directly applicable
regulations as directly applicable in all Member States
Direct effect concerns legally enforceable rights arising from EU law.
OCR refers to:
treaty rights
regulations
directives
when discussing direct effect.
The detailed rules governing individual rights are deliberately developed in EU law and individual rights [EU law and individual rights].
Sources and EU institutions
There is an important link with the previous lesson.
The European Commission, European Parliament and Council of the European Union are associated by OCR with regulations and directives under Article 288.
This means you can organise the two lessons together:
EU institutions [Institutions of the European Union]
↓
Commission + Parliament + Council
↓
secondary EU law
↓
Regulations + Directives
Treaties sit above this distinction as primary EU law.
Sources and supremacy
Regulations also introduce an idea developed in the following EU lessons.
OCR's 2023 mark scheme uses Re Tachographs to illustrate that where a domestic law conflicts with a regulation, the regulation has primacy.
That leads directly into supremacy and parliamentary sovereignty [Supremacy and parliamentary sovereignty], where you will examine the supremacy of EU law over Member State law and the historical impact on UK parliamentary sovereignty during EU membership.
EU law after Brexit
OCR's 2023 examiner report specifically reminded centres that EU law remained part of A-Level Law despite Brexit and that some aspects should be approached retrospectively. The current H418 specification continues to require treaties, regulations and directives.
For examination purposes, this means wording matters.
When discussing the United Kingdom as an EU Member State, use the past tense where appropriate:
"When the UK was a Member State..."
"During the UK's membership of the European Union..."
Do not assume that Brexit removed EU law from the H418 specification.
A strong structure for an 8-mark answer
OCR assessed this exact area as an 8-mark AO1 question in 2023.
A useful structure is:
Treaty
define it as primary EU law
explain types or legal effect
give an example
Regulation
define it as secondary EU law
explain direct applicability and binding effect
give an authority
Directive
define it as secondary EU law
explain that it binds as to the result but leaves the form to the Member State
give the Working Time example
You do not need an enormous essay. What matters is accurate coverage of all three sources, with enough development to demonstrate understanding.
Key Words 🔑
Key word | Student-friendly definition | How it may be used in an exam |
Treaty | A primary source of EU law setting out fundamental principles and aims. | Distinguish primary law from regulations and directives. |
Regulation | Secondary EU law which is directly applicable and binding in its entirety. | Explain a source designed to provide uniform legal rules across Member States. |
Directive | Secondary EU law which is binding as to the result to be achieved while leaving the form to the Member State. | Distinguish directives from directly applicable regulations. |
Directly applicable | Taking legal effect in a Member State without further action being required to bring the rule into effect. | Explain an important feature of regulations and relevant treaty Articles. |
Article 288 | The provision identified by OCR in connection with regulations and directives. | Provide legal detail when explaining secondary EU law. |
Hints from the Examiner Reports 💡
Examiner hint: This topic has been directly examined. In 2023, students were asked to describe treaties, regulations and directives as sources of EU law, so all three are clearly worth preparing securely.
Examiner hint: OCR reported a very polarised performance on the 2023 EU question. Candidates who knew the topic securely could produce outstanding answers, while others struggled to provide accurate detail. Do not treat EU law as an optional corner of the course.
Examiner hint: For the 2023 question, examiners were looking for a definition of each source, further detail about its effect, and an example. That gives you an excellent revision formula: define + develop + illustrate.
Examiner hint: Be selective. OCR repeatedly warns against identifying a broad topic from one keyword and writing everything you know. If the question is about the three sources, focus on treaties, regulations and directives rather than producing a general account of EU institutions, supremacy and Brexit.
Examiner hint: Quantity is not automatically quality. OCR's 2023 report demonstrated that concise, accurate and developed AO1 can reach the highest level. Aim for complete coverage and legal precision rather than unnecessary length.
Examiner hint: Use retrospective wording appropriately. The examiner report noted that EU law remains part of the course despite Brexit and that some aspects are now viewed retrospectively, particularly when discussing the UK's former position as a Member State.
Common Mistakes ⚠️
Mistake: Calling regulations and directives primary EU law
Why this is incorrect: OCR identifies treaties as primary law and regulations and directives as secondary sources.
How to improve: Use the memory rule:
Treaty = primaryRegulation + Directive = secondary
Mistake: Saying a directive and a regulation operate in the same way
Why this is incorrect: A regulation is directly applicable and binding in its entirety. A directive is binding as to the result, but the Member State has flexibility over the legal form used to achieve that result.
How to improve: Remember:
Regulation = rule applies directly
Directive = result must be achieved
Mistake: Saying Member States can choose which parts of a regulation to follow
Why this is incorrect: OCR describes regulations as binding in their entirety.
How to improve: State clearly that Member States cannot pick and choose individual provisions.
Mistake: Saying a regulation always requires a domestic Act before it can operate
Why this is incorrect: OCR describes regulations as directly applicable.
How to improve: Explain that they take effect without further Member State legislative action being required for their applicability.
Mistake: Saying a directive dictates the exact domestic form of the new law
Why this is incorrect: The Member State is given flexibility over the form used to achieve the required result.
How to improve: Use OCR's central phrase: binding as to the result to be achieved.
Mistake: Forgetting treaty types
Why this is incorrect: OCR's mark scheme identifies founding, accession and amending treaties as useful ways of developing treaty knowledge.
How to improve: Learn one purpose for each and the supported examples, Treaty of Rome 1957 and Lisbon Treaty 2007.
Mistake: Ignoring the historical position of the UK
Why this is incorrect: OCR continues to assess EU law, but the UK is no longer described as a current EU Member State.
How to improve: When using UK examples, write "when the UK was a Member State" where appropriate.
Exam-Style Questions ✍️
Question 1
Which of the following is a primary source of European Union law?
A. Regulation
B. Directive
C. Treaty
D. Domestic statutory instrument
[1]
Question 2
Identify the two sources required by OCR which are classified as secondary EU law. [2]
Question 3
Explain the difference between a founding treaty and an amending treaty. Give one OCR-supported example of each. [4]
Question 4
An EU legal measure applies without further legislative action by Member States and is binding in its entirety.
Identify the source and explain two of its legal features. [4]
Question 5
An EU measure requires Member State X to achieve a particular legal result but allows the state to decide which domestic legislative form it will use.
Identify the source and explain why. [4]
Question 6
Explain three differences between regulations and directives. [6]
Question 7
Explain treaties as a source of European Union law. [6]
Question 8
Describe treaties, regulations and directives as sources of European Union law. [8]
Answers and Indicative Mark Scheme
Question 1 [1]
C. Treaty
Treaties are primary sources of EU law.
Question 2 [2]
One mark each for:
regulations
directives
Question 3 [4]
Indicative content:
a founding treaty forms part of the establishment of the EU legal structure
OCR gives the Treaty of Rome 1957 as an example
an amending treaty alters or extends the scope of the EU
OCR gives the Lisbon Treaty 2007 as an example
Award credit for accurate explanation rather than simply listing the treaty names.
Question 4 [4]
The measure is a regulation.
Relevant explanation may include:
it is secondary EU law
it is directly applicable in Member States
it is binding in its entirety
it aims to produce legal uniformity
Member States cannot select only the provisions they wish to follow
Re Tachographs can support the principle of primacy where domestic law conflicts with a regulation
Question 5 [4]
The measure is a directive.
Relevant explanation:
directives are secondary EU law
they are binding as to the result to be achieved
the Member State is allowed to choose the legal form used to achieve that result
this provides flexibility while promoting harmonisation
Question 6 [6]
Possible differences include:
A regulation is directly applicable, whereas a directive leaves the domestic form used to achieve its result to the Member State.
A regulation is binding in its entirety, whereas a directive is binding as to the result to be achieved.
Regulations seek uniformity through a directly applicable rule, whereas directives are harmonising measures which allow flexibility.
OCR states that directives may be addressed to all, some or one Member State.
OCR recognises regulations as capable of both vertical and horizontal direct effect, while directives are vertically directly effective but not always horizontally.
Award marks for developed comparisons rather than two separate lists.
Question 7 [6]
Indicative content:
treaties are primary sources of EU law
they include founding, accession and amending treaties
founding treaties created the EU structure, for example the Treaty of Rome 1957
accession treaties enlarge the EU by admitting new Member States
amending treaties extend or alter the EU's scope, for example the Lisbon Treaty 2007
Member States signing treaties agree to create laws consistent with treaty principles and aims
treaty Articles can be directly applicable
treaty provisions containing individual rights can also have direct effect
Higher marks require explanation of several features rather than simply naming treaties.
Question 8 [8]
A high-level response should provide balanced coverage of all three sources.
Treaties
primary EU law
founding, accession and amending treaties
examples such as Treaty of Rome 1957 and Lisbon Treaty 2007
treaty Articles can be directly applicable
individual rights may arise from treaty provisions
Regulations
secondary law under Article 288
connected with the Council, Commission and Parliament
directly applicable
binding in their entirety
seek uniformity
primacy over conflicting Member State law, illustrated by Re Tachographs
vertical and horizontal direct effect, with Politi identified by OCR
Directives
secondary law under Article 288
harmonising measures
binding as to the result to be achieved
Member States determine the legal form used to achieve that result
may be addressed to all, some or one Member State
the Working Time Regulations 1998 provide an OCR-supported example from the period of UK membership
vertically directly effective but not always horizontally
OCR's 2023 examiner report indicates that strong answers needed a definition, developed legal detail and an example for the sources discussed.
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