指令（Directive）是欧洲联盟的一种立法。和规章（Regulation）不同，指令只要求欧洲联盟成员国达成订明的目标，但并不限制成员国达成目标的方法（所以译为「准则」会更贴切，事实上， "directive" 在欧盟官方的德文用语里叫做 "Richtlinie" ，就是准则之意）。而规章立法后则立即成为每个成员国的法律一部分，各国必需照其内容运行。指令通常在规则以外留有酌情权，好让成员国有弹性地运行。指令按照情况，由各种欧盟的立法进程颁布。

A directive is a legal 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 normally leave member states with a certain amount of leeway as to the exact rules to be adopted. Directives can be adopted by means of a variety of legislative procedures depending on their subject matter.