This Directive applies to:
the dimensions of motor vehicles in categories M2 and M3 and their trailers in category O and motor vehicles in categories N2 and N3 and their trailers in categories O3 and O4, as defined in Annex II to Directive 2007/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council(1);
the weights and certain other characteristics of the vehicles defined in (a) and specified in Annex I (2) to this Directive.
All the values of weights indicated in Annex I are valid as circulation standards and thus refer to loading conditions, not production standards, which will be defined in a later Directive.
This Directive shall not apply to articulated buses comprising more than one articulated section.
For the purposes of this Directive:
‘motor vehicle’ shall mean any power-driven vehicle which travels on the road by its own means,
‘trailer’ shall mean any vehicle intended to be coupled to a motor vehicle excluding semi-trailers, and constructed and equipped for the carriage of goods,
‘semi-trailer’ shall mean any vehicle intended to be coupled to a motor vehicle in such a way that part of it rests on the motor vehicle with a substantial part of its weight and of the weight of its load being borne by the motor vehicle, and constructed and equipped for the carriage of goods,
‘vehicle combination’ shall mean either:
a road train consisting of a motor vehicle coupled to a trailer; or
an articulated vehicle consisting of a motor vehicle coupled to a semi-trailer,
‘conditoned vehicle’ shall mean any vehicle whose fixed or movable superstructures are specially equipped for the carriage of goods at controlled temperatures and whose side walls, inclusive of insulation, are each at least 45 mm thick,
‘bus’ shall mean a vehicle with more than nine seats including the driver's seat, constructed and equipped to carry passengers and their luggage. It may have one or two decks and may also draw a luggage trailer,
‘articulated bus’ shall mean a bus consisting of two rigid sections connected to each other by an articulated section. On this type of vehicle the passenger compartments in each of the two rigid sections shall be intercommunicating. The articulated section shall permit the free movement of travellers between the rigid sections. Connection and disconnection of the two sections shall be possible only in a workshop,
‘maximum authorized dimensions’ shall mean the maximum dimensions for use of a vehicle, as laid down in Annex I to this Directive,
‘maximum authorized weight’ shall mean the maximum weight for use of a laden vehicle in international traffic,
‘maximum authorized axle weight’ shall mean the maximum weight for use in international traffic of a laden axle or group of axles,
‘indivisible load’ shall mean a load that cannot, for the purpose of carriage by road, be divided into two or more loads without undue expense or risk of damage and which owing to its dimensions or mass cannot be carried by a motor vehicle, trailer, road train or articulated vehicle complying with this Directive in all respects,
‘tonne’ shall mean the weight executed by the mass of a tonne and shall correspond to 9,8 kilonewtons (kN),
‘alternative fuels’ shall mean fuels or power sources which serve, at least partly, as a substitute for fossil oil sources in the energy supply to transport and which have the potential to contribute to its decarbonisation and enhance the environmental performance of the transport sector, consisting of:
electricity consumed in all types of electric vehicles;
hydrogen;
natural gas, including biomethane, in gaseous form (Compressed Natural Gas — CNG) and liquefied form (Liquefied Natural Gas — LNG);
Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG);
mechanical energy from on-board storage/on-board sources, including waste heat,
‘alternatively fuelled vehicle’ shall mean a motor vehicle powered wholly or in part by an alternative fuel and which has been approved under the framework of Directive 2007/46/EC,
‘zero-emission vehicle’ shall mean a zero-emission heavy-duty vehicle as defined in point (11) of Article 3 of Regulation (EU) 2019/1242 of the European Parliament and of the Council(2),
‘intermodal transport operation’ shall mean:
the combined transport operations defined in Article 1 of Council Directive 92/106/EEC(3) engaged in the transport of one or more containers or swap bodies, up to a total maximum length of 45 feet; or
transport operations engaged in the transport of one or more containers or swap bodies, up to a total maximum length of 45 feet, using waterborne transport, provided that the length of the initial or the final road leg does not exceed 150 km in the territory of the Union. The distance of 150 km referred to above may be exceeded in order to reach the nearest suitable transport terminal for the envisaged service in the case of:
vehicles complying with point 2.2.2(a) or (b) of Annex I; or
vehicles complying with point 2.2.2(c) or (d) of Annex I, in cases where such distances are permitted in the relevant Member State.
For intermodal transport operations, the nearest suitable transport terminal providing a service may be located in a Member State other than the Member State in which the shipment was loaded or unloaded,
‘shipper’ shall mean a legal entity or a natural or legal person who is named on the bill of lading or on an equivalent transport document, such as a ‘through’ bill of lading, as the shipper and/or in whose name or on whose behalf a contract of carriage has been concluded with the transport company.
All maximum authorized dimensions specified in Annex I shall be measured in accordance with Annex I to Directive 2007/46/EC, with no positive tolerances.
A Member State may not reject or prohibit the use in its territory:
in international traffic, of vehicles registered or put into circulation in any other Member State for reasons relating to their weights and dimensions,
in national traffic, of vehicles registered or put into circulation in any other Member State for reasons relating to their dimensions,
provided that such vehicles comply with the limit values specified in Annex I.
This provision shall apply notwithstanding the fact that:
the said vehicles are not in conformity with the requirements of that Member State with regard to certain weight and dimension characteristics not covered by Annex I;
the competent authority of the Member State in which the vehicles are registered or put into circulation has authorized limits not referred to in Article 4 (1) exceeding those laid down in Annex I.
However, paragraph 1 (a) shall not affect the right of Member States, with due regard to Community law, to require vehicles registered or put into circulation in their own territory to be in conformity with their national requirements on weight and dimension characteristics not covered by Annex I.
Member States may require conditioned vehicles to carry an ATP certificate or ATP certification plate provided for in the Agreement of 1 September 1970 on the international carriage of perishable foodstuffs and on the special equipment to be used for such carriage.
Member States shall not authorise the normal circulation within their territories:
of vehicles or vehicle combinations for the national transport of goods which are not in conformity with the characteristics set out in points 1.1, 1.2, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.7, 1.8, 4.2 and 4.4 of Annex I;
of vehicles for national passenger transport, which are not in conformity with the characteristics set out in points 1.1, 1.2, 1.4a, 1.5 and 1.5a of Annex I.
Member States may nonetheless authorise the circulation within their territories:
of vehicles or vehicle combinations for the national transport of goods which are not in conformity with the characteristics set out in points 1.3, 2, 3, 4.1 and 4.3 of Annex I;
of vehicles for national passenger transport, which are not in conformity with the characteristics set out in points 1.3, 2, 3, 4.1 and 4.3 of Annex I.
Vehicles or vehicle combinations which exceed the maximum dimensions may only be allowed to circulate on the basis of special permits issued without discrimination by the competent authorities, or on the basis of similar non-discriminatory arrangements agreed on a case-by-case basis with those authorities, where these vehicles or vehicle combinations carry or are intended to carry indivisible loads.
Member States may allow vehicles or vehicle combinations used for transport which carry out certain national transport operations that do not significantly affect international competition in the transport sector to circulate in their territory with dimensions deviating from those laid down in points 1.1, 1.2, 1.4 to 1.8, 4.2 and 4.4 of Annex I.
Transport operations shall be considered not significantly to affect international competition in the transport sector if one of the conditions under (a) and (b) is fulfilled:
the transport operations are carried out in a Member State's territory by specialized vehicles or specialized vehicle combinations in circumstances in which they are not normally carried out by vehicles from other Member States, e.g. operations linked to logging and the forestry industry;
the Member State which permits transport operations to be carried out in its territory by vehicles or vehicle combinations with dimensions deviating from those laid down in Annex I also permits motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers which comply with the dimensions laid down in Annex I to be used in such combinations as to achieve at least the loading length authorized in that Member State, so that every operator may benefit from equal conditions of competition (modular concept).
Member States may allow vehicles or vehicle combinations incorporating new technologies or new concepts which cannot comply with one or more requirements of this Directive to carry out certain local transport operations for a trial period. Member States shall inform the Commission thereof.
Until 31 December 2020 Member States may authorise buses that were registered or put into circulation before the implementation of this Directive but the dimensions of which exceed those laid down in points 1.1, 1.2, 1.5 and 1.5a of Annex I to circulate within their territories.
Articulated vehicles put into circulation before 1 January 1991 which do not comply with the specifications contained in points 1.6 and 4.4 of Annex I shall be deemed to comply with such specifications for the purposes of Article 3 if they do not exceed a total length of 15,50 m.