This fully revised and updated new edition offers a detailed exposition of EC Directives, individual rights, and the protection of those rights in national courts. Three central themes are investigated: the characteristics of EC Directives; the role played by national courts in protecting the rights which individuals derive from Directives; and the 'devices' and means by which the courts may implement this protection.

Focussing initially upon clear examples from the ECJ case law, the author then moves on to discuss specific 'lines' within that case law, and to examine how these 'lines' complement or contradict each other. Throughout the text, the author's empirical argument is enriched by discussion of doctrine and theory. Less orthodox ideas are also incorporated through selective use of a comparative approach which illuminates the workings of EC directives from the broader perspective of the EC as a whole. In an updated conclusion, the prospects of Directives in the future and in the light of the nascent European Constitution are discussed.

The result is an extensive and in-depth analysis of Directives, the case-law of the ECJ, and legal writing on the topic, which also engages with the more practical issues of implementation and enforcement in the courts.