Since the objective of this Directive cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States but can rather, by reason of the cross-border nature of the transactions concerned and the need to reduce compliance costs in the internal market as a whole, be better achieved at Union level, the Union may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union. In accordance with the principle of proportionality as set out in that Article, this Directive does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve that objective.
Text as published in the Official Journal, reproduced verbatim (including any typographical quirks of the source). For the authentic version, see EUR-Lex.