Investigating the European Commission’s Choice of Legal Policy Instrument: Directive 2006/66/EC and Regulation (EU) 2023/1542

Over the last three decades, the European Commission has actively developed directives and regulations targeting environmental issues, promoting sustainability, and ensuring long-term battery management across the European Union. Among them, the recent Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 is hailed to be the most comprehensive attempt by the EU to regulate the entire lifecycle of long-life batteries to date, while repealing the previous Directive 2006/66/EC. However, it is well understood that the legacy of prior choices has a significant impact on the type of policy tool. The instrument not only defines how uniformly a policy is administered throughout Member States, but also the speed, consistency, and political feasibility of implementation. The Commission thus makes far-reaching decisions when proposing the first piece of legislation. In this context, this research aims to understand why the battery policy changed from directive to regulation by testing potential factors involved in the Commission’s choice of policy instrument in a most-similar systems design. The article includes an in‐depth comparative analysis of Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 and Directive 2006/66/EC, using an array of primary and secondary literature. It was expected that policy urgency and fear of non-compliance influence the Commission in prioritizing regulations over directives. The findings confirmed the expectation of policy urgency (H1) but revealed mixed results for fear of non-compliance (H2). This study highlights a strategic calculation in EU policymaking. When faced with high urgency and significant non-compliance risks, the Commission chooses regulations to ensure quick and uniform implementation. When urgency is limited but harmonization is still required, directives are the preferable approach, allowing national flexibility for Member States. The transition reflects the EU's shifting priorities from gradual market harmonization to crisis-driven, regulated integration.