I'm not disagreeing, but what I meant was: if government of country X signs an agreement with country Y, then holds elections and the political wind changes, typically they won't be able to just rip the agreement without suffering massive diplomatic damage. EU Directives, in practice, are a way to create international agreements at scale across the continent, streamlining the necessary proceedings. In the same way as a country wouldn't be expected to simply toss an international agreement after a political change, they are expected not to simply ignore matters agreed at EU level by a previous administration without serious repercussions.