Considerations on COM(2021)769 - Maximum authorised dimensions in national and international traffic for road vehicles and maximum authorised weights in international traffic (codification)

Please note

This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.

 
dossier COM(2021)769 - Maximum authorised dimensions in national and international traffic for road vehicles and maximum authorised weights in ...
document COM(2021)769 EN
date December  7, 2021
 
 96/53 recital 2 (adapted)

(1) Council Directive  96/53/EC 7   has been  substantially  amended  several times 8 . In the interests   of clarity and rationality  , that Directive should   be  codified  .


 2002/7 recital 1 (adapted)

(2) Directive 96/53/EC established, in the framework of the common transport policy, harmonised maximum vehicle  weights and  dimensions for the circulation of road vehicles transporting  passengers or   goods.


 96/53 recital 9 (adapted)

(3) It is necessary to clarify the concept of ‘indivisible load’ in order to ensure   the   uniform application of this Directive in respect of permits for vehicles or vehicle combinations carrying such loads.


 96/53 recital 10

(4) The tonne is universally used and understood as the unit of measurement for vehicle weight and is, therefore, applied in this Directive whilst recognising that the formal unit of weight is the newton.


 96/53 recital 11 (adapted)

(5)  With a view to ensuring the functioning   of the internal market, the scope of this Directive should extend to national transport insofar as it concerns characteristics that significantly affect the conditions of competition in the transport sector and in particular the values relating to the maximum authorised length and width of vehicles and vehicle combinations intended for the carriage of  passengers or  goods.


 96/53 recital 12

(6) For the other vehicle characteristics, Member States are authorised to apply in their territory different values from those laid down in this Directive only to vehicles used in national traffic.


 2002/7 recital 6

(7) For reasons of road safety, buses should meet performance criteria as regards their manoeuvrability.


 96/53 recital 13 (adapted)

(8) Road trains using extensible coupling systems in practice attain a maximum length of 18,75 m when fully extended. The same maximum length should be authorised for road trains using fixed coupling systems.


 96/53 recital 16

(9) To prevent excessive road damage and to ensure manoeuvrability, when authorising and using vehicles preference should be given to pneumatic or equivalent suspension rather than mechanical suspension. Certain maximum axle loads should not be exceeded, and the vehicle must be capable of turning through 360° within certain limit values for the path followed.


 96/53 recital 17 (adapted)

(10) Member States should be permitted, in national goods transport, to allow vehicles or vehicle combinations with dimensions deviating from those laid down in this Directive to circulate in their territory if the transport operations carried out by such vehicles are defined by this Directive as not significantly affecting international competition in the transport sector,  namely,   operations carried out by specialised vehicles and operations carried out according to a modular concept.


 96/53 recital 19

(11) Vehicles or vehicle combinations constructed applying new technologies or new concepts, according to standards which deviate from those laid down by this Directive, should be allowed to carry out local transport operations for a trial period to enable profit to be drawn from technical progress.


 96/53 recital 23

(12) In order to facilitate the monitoring of compliance with this Directive, it is necessary to ensure that vehicles carry proof of such compliance.


 2015/719 recital 1

(13) The need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, particularly carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, to improve road safety, to adapt the relevant legislation to technological developments and changing market needs and to facilitate intermodal transport operations, while ensuring undistorted competition and protecting the road infrastructure, must be emphasised.


 2015/719 recital 2 (adapted)

(14) Technological developments make it possible to attach retractable or foldable aerodynamic devices to the rear of vehicles. However, to do so would result in the maximum lengths being exceeded. A derogation from the maximum lengths  permitted under Annex I to this Directive  is necessary  in order   to allow the installation of such devices.


 2015/719 recital 3 (adapted)

(15) Improved aerodynamics of the cabs of motor vehicles would allow significant gains in respect of the energy performance of vehicles, possibly in conjunction with retractable or foldable aerodynamic devices attached to the rear of vehicles. A derogation from the maximum lengths  set by Annex I to this Directive  is also necessary. That derogation should not be used to increase the load capacity of the vehicle.


 2015/719 recital 6 (adapted)

(16) Alternative powertrains, which include hybrid powertrains, are those which, for the purpose of mechanical propulsion, draw energy from consumable fuel and/or a battery or other electrical or mechanical power storage device. Their use for heavy duty vehicles or buses may generate extra weight, but reduces pollution. That extra weight should not be counted as part of the effective load of the vehicle, since this would penalise the road transport sector in economic terms. However, the extra weight should  also   not result in the load capacity of the vehicle being increased.


 2015/719 recital 7

(17) Future alternatively fuelled vehicles (with heavier powertrains than those used in conventionally fuelled vehicles) might also benefit from an extra weight allowance. Therefore, such alternative fuels may be included in the list of alternative fuels provided for by this Directive, if their use requires an additional weight allowance.


 2015/719 recital 8 (adapted)

(18) Derogations from the maximum authorised weights and dimensions of vehicles and vehicle combinations laid down in  Annex I to this  Directive   should be provided for  . However, Member States should be able to restrict, for reasons related to road safety or infrastructure characteristics, the circulation of certain vehicles in specific parts of their road network.


 2015/719 recital 9 (adapted)

(19) In the area of containerisation, 45-foot containers are increasingly being used. Such containers are transported by all modes of transport. Increasing the authorised length of the vehicles transporting such containers by 15 cm could facilitate intermodal transport operations, without risk or prejudice to the road infrastructure or other road users. The definition of intermodal transport operation in this Directive is without prejudice to work on the revision of Council Directive 92/106/EEC 9 .


 2015/719 recital 10

(20) To further promote intermodal transport operations and to take account of the unladen weight of containers or swap bodies of a length of up to 45 feet, the circulation of three-axle motor vehicles with two- or three-axle semi-trailers should be allowed up to a total authorised weight of 44 tonnes. Two-axle motor vehicles with three-axle semi-trailers transporting containers or swap bodies of a length of up to 45 feet should be allowed in intermodal transport operations up to a total authorised weight of 42 tonnes.


 2015/719 recital 12

(21) Infringements in relation to overloaded vehicles need to be addressed adequately by Member States in order to avoid any distortions of competition and to ensure road safety.


 2015/719 recital 13 (adapted)

(22) In order to ensure undistorted competition between operators and to improve the detection of infringements, Member States should take specific measures to identify vehicles or vehicle combinations in circulation that are likely to have exceeded the relevant weight limits and that should therefore be checked. Such identification may be carried out by means of weighing mechanisms built into the road infrastructure, or by means of on-board sensors in vehicles that communicate data remotely to the relevant authorities. Such on-board data should be made available also to the driver. Every year, each Member State should perform an appropriate number of vehicle weight checks. The number of such checks should be proportionate to the total number of vehicles inspected each year in the Member State concerned.


 2015/719 recital 15

(23) In order to make checks of the weight of vehicles or vehicle combinations more effective at international level, and to facilitate the smooth operation of those checks, it is important that the competent authorities of the Member States exchange information. The contact point designated in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1071/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council 10 should be used for such exchanges of information.


 2015/719 recital 14

(24) In order to ensure compliance with this Directive, Member States should lay down rules on penalties for infringements of this Directive and should ensure their implementation. Those penalties should be effective, non-discriminatory, proportionate and dissuasive.


 2015/719 recital 16

(25) The European Parliament and the Council should be regularly informed of the checks on road traffic carried out by the Member States' competent authorities. This information, provided by the Member States, will enable the Commission to ensure compliance by hauliers with the rules provided for by this Directive, as well as to determine whether or not additional coercive measures should be developed.


 2015/719 recital 19 (adapted)

(26) In order to update the list of alternative fuels  covered by   this Directive in light of the latest technological developments, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union should be delegated to the Commission. It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including  at expert level, and that those consultations be conducted in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making 11   .  In particular, to ensure equal participation in the preparation of   delegated acts, the European Parliament and the Council   receive all documents at the same time as Member States’ experts, and their experts systematically have access to meetings of Commission expert groups dealing with the preparation of delegated acts  .


 2015/719 recital 17

(27) In order to ensure uniform conditions for the implementation of this Directive, implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission. Those powers should be exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council 12 .


 2015/719 recital 18

(28) The Commission should not adopt implementing acts relating to the operational requirements regarding the use of aerodynamic devices or detailed specifications concerning on-board weighing equipment where the committee established pursuant to this Directive delivers no opinion on the draft implementing act presented by the Commission.


 2015/719 recital 20

(29) Since the objectives of this Directive cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States but can rather, by reason of its scale and effects, 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 those objectives.


 96/53 recital 24 (adapted)

(30) This Directive  should be without prejudice to   the obligations of the Member States  relating to the time-limits   for  the   transposition into national law of the Directives   set out in Annex IV, Part B  ,


 96/53