EC Regulations and EC Directives are binding in the UK (and all other EU Member States).
EC Regulations are directly applicable, without the need for national legislation to implement them, whereas EC Directives have to be implemented by national legislation; in the UK this is normally by statutory instrument (SI). If the UK Government fails to implement new EC legislation it is open to infraction proceedings by the European Commission, and may be fined by the European Court of Justice.
