Minimum harmonisation is a term used in European Union law

European Union law

European Union law is a body of treaties and legislation, such as Regulations and Directives, which have direct effect or indirect effect on the laws of European Union member states. The three sources of European Union law are primary law, secondary law and supplementary law...

.

If a piece of law (usually a directive

European Union directive

A directive is a legislative act of the European Union, which requires member states to achieve a particular result without dictating the means of achieving that result. It can be distinguished from regulations which are self-executing and do not require any implementing measures. Directives...

, but also a regulation

European Union regulation

A regulation is a legislative act of the European Union that becomes immediately enforceable as law in all member states simultaneously. Regulations can be distinguished from directives which, at least in principle, need to be transposed into national law...

 on occasion), is described as minimum harmonisation, that means that it sets a threshold which national legislation must meet. However, national law may exceed the terms of the legislation if desired.

It is usually easier to reach agreement on legislation drafted on this basis, as it allows existing national legislation on issues such as consumer protection

Consumer protection

Consumer protection laws designed to ensure fair trade competition and the free flow of truthful information in the marketplace. The laws are designed to prevent businesses that engage in fraud or specified unfair practices from gaining an advantage over competitors and may provide additional...

 or the environment

Environment (biophysical)

The biophysical environment is the combined modeling of the physical environment and the biological life forms within the environment, and includes all variables, parameters as well as conditions and modes inside the Earth's biosphere. The biophysical environment can be divided into two categories:...

 to remain in place. Therefore, most European legislation has been implemented on this basis. In more recent years, however, the burden of EC law has led to calls for deregulation

Deregulation

Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and regulations that constrain the operation of market forces.Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and regulations that constrain the operation of market forces.Deregulation is the removal or...

, and accusations that some member states still indulge in protectionism

Protectionism

Protectionism is the economic policy of restraining trade between states through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, restrictive quotas, and a variety of other government regulations designed to allow "fair competition" between imports and goods and services produced domestically.This...

 when implementing directives into national law through gold-plating

Gold-plating

Gold-plating is a term relating to European Union law, used particularly in the UK.Gold-plating refers to the practice of national bodies exceeding the terms of European Community directives when implementing them into national law...

. Therefore, a growing minority of EU law contains maximum harmonisation

Maximum harmonisation

Maximum harmonisation is a term used in European Union law.If a piece of law , is described as maximum harmonisation, that means that national law may not exceed the terms of the legislation...

provisions.

It is quite common for a directive or recommendation to consist of a mixture of maximum harmonisation and minimum harmonisation clauses.