No C 79/8 Official Journal of the European Communities 26. 3. 88 
II 
(Preparatory Acts) 
COMMISSION 
Proposal for a Council Directive on the charging of transport infrastructure costs to heavy 
goods vehicles 
COM(87) 716 final 
(Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 15 January 1988) 
(88/C 79/12) 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, -
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European 
Economic Community, and in particular Articles 75 and 
99 thereof, 
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 
Having regard to the opinion of the European 
Parliament, 
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and 
Social Committee, 
Whereas one of the objectives of the common transport 
policy is to eliminate disparities liable to cause significant 
distortions of competitive conditions in the transport 
sector; whereas differences are prevalent in, inter alia, 
the field of taxation relating to transport; whereas in this 
connection it is necessary to take measures designed in 
particular to approximate the Member States' provisions 
on the taxation of heavy goods vehicles and to avoid any 
double taxation of these vehicles; 
Whereas the need to take particular measures to achieve 
these aims is recorded in Council Decision 65/271/EEC 
of 13 May 1965 on the harmonization of certain 
provisions affecting competition in transport by rail, road 
and inland waterway ('); 
Whereas transport in the non-European territories of the 
Member States is carried on in conditions which are 
fundamentally different from those obtaining in Europe; 
whereas this Directive should therefore not apply to 
these territories; 
Whereas the above objectives should be achieved by 
progressively adjusting the national taxation systems for 
the use or possession of heavy goods vehicles; whereas 
priority should be given to approximating the structure 
of the tax systems, and to this end the basis of taxation 
for these vehicles should be their maximum permissible 
gross laden weights within categories classified according 
to the number and configuration of their axles; 
O OJ No 88, 24. 5. 1965, p. 1500/65. Whereas the tax rates should be determined in such a 
way as to reflect the costs caused to the road infra­
structure by these vehicles; whereas for this purpose the 
taxation on any vehicle, taking account of the excise on 
diesel oil which will have been harmonized at a 
Community basis by 1992, or taxes of a comparable 
effect, should at least cover the traffic-related cost of 
using the infrastructure incurred by that vehicle; whereas 
in determining tax rates, allowance should be made for 
the effects of the payment of tolls for the use of certain 
road infrastructure in certain Member States; 
Whereas methods for determining tax rates in 
accordance with the above principles, should be estab­
lished in a second phase by the Commission; whereas in 
this context external costs should be considered with 
reference to intermodal competition; whereas, also, the 
territoriality principle will be the base of a more appro­
priate system for paying vehicle taxes; 
Whereas it is advisable initially to limit the adjustment of 
national taxation systems to diesel-powered commercial 
vehicles of more than a certain threshold tonnage liable 
to be used for intra-Community transport of goods; 
whereas it should be possible in certain specific cases to 
grant exemptions from or reductions of the tax, or to 
increase it, and moreover to apply the new tax rates 
progressively where the taxation of particular vehicles 
would undergo substantial changes; 
Whereas during a transitional period, ending with the 
establishment of a common system on fixing tax rates, 
immediate measures have to be taken to stop divergent 
trends in vehicle taxation, 
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE: 
Article 1 
1. Member States shall adjust their systems of taxation 
of the use or possession of heavy goods vehicles in 
accordance with this Directive. 
26. 3. 88 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 79/9 
2. This Directive shall not apply to the non-European 
territories of the Member States. It shall also not apply 
to the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla, Azores or 
Madeira. 
Article 2 
1. For the purpose of this Directive, 'heavy goods 
vehicles' means self-propelled vehicles, trailers and semi­
trailers registered in a Member State or, if not registered, 
belonging to undertakings established in a Member State 
or to residents of a Member State or used, within a 
Member State by these undertakings or these residents, 
provided that: 
— their tractive power is provided by a diesel engine, 
— they are used for the transport of goods by road, 
— their maximum permissible gross laden weight is at 
least equal to: 
(i) 12 tonnes for a rigid lorry or tractor vehicle, 
whether used separately or as part of a road 
train or an articulated vehicle; 
(ii) 4 tonnes for a trailer of a road train, or a semi­
trailer of an articulated vehicle, where the 
weight of the tractor vehicle is at least 12 
tonnes; 
(iii) 16 tonnes for a road train or an articulated 
vehicle, where the weight of the tractor unit is 
less than 12 tonnes. 
These limits shall apply irrespective of whether the parts 
of the road train or the articulated vehicle are taxed as a 
whole or separately. For the purposes of determining the 
weight of the parts of an articulated vehicle, the portion 
of the weight of the semi-trailer which rests on the 
tractor coupling shall be added to the weight of the 
tractor and deducted from the weight of the semi-trailer. 
2. Member States shall have the right to exclude from 
the scope of this Directive vehicles of the armed forces 
and the police and vehicles belonging to or registered in 
the name of a public, regional or local authority. 
Article 3 
Without prejuduce to the provisions of Article 5, the 
adjustment of taxation systems referred to in Article 1 
shall apply to the following taxes: 
— Belgium: 
taxe de circulation sur les vehicules automobiles/ 
verkeersbelasting op de autovoertuigen 
— Denmark: 
vaegtafgift af motork0ret0j'er m.v. 
— Federal Republic of Germany: 
Kraftfahrzeugsteuer — Greece: 
TeAj) Ki)icA,0(popiac, 
— Spain: 
(a) impuesto municipal de circulation 
(b) licencia fiscal 
— France: 
(a) taxe speciale sur certains vehicules routiers 
(b) taxe differentielle sur les vehicules a moteur 
— Ireland: 
vehicle excise duties 
— Italy: 
(a) tassa di circolazione sugli autoveicoli 
(b) addizionale det 5 °/o sulla tassa di circolazione 
— Luxembourg: 
taxe sur les vehicules automoteurs 
— Netherlands: 
motorrijtuigenbelasting 
— Portugal: 
(a) imposto de camionagem 
(b) imposto de circula^ao 
— United Kingdom: 
vehicle excise duties. 
Article 4 
1. Member States shall not levy taxes or charges on 
the use or possession of heavy goods vehicles other than 
the taxes referred to in Article 3. 
2. Paragraph 1 shall not prevent Member States from 
introducing or retaining: 
(a) Minor specific taxes or dues, such as the vehicle 
registration taxes levied in some Member States or 
the dues on vehicles or loads of abnormal weights or 
dimensions; 
(b) Parking fees and urban traffic charges; 
(c) Subject to the conditions set out in Article 5, charges 
(road tolls) for the use of road infrastructures. 
3. By way of derogation from the provisions of 
paragraph 1 and pending completion of the work 
referred to in Article 10, the Member States shall be 
authorized to levy taxes or charges on heavy goods 
vehicles calculated on the basis of costs resulting from air 
pollution and noise pollution caused by such vehicles. 
No C 79/10 Official Journal of the European Communities 26. 3. 88 
Article 5 
1. Road tolls for heavy goods vehicles shall be subject 
to the following conditions: 
(a) Tolls shall be charged without direct or indirect 
discrimination on the grounds of nationality and 
without discrimination on grounds of the origin or 
destination of the traffic; 
(b) Tolls shall be related to the cost of constructing and 
operating the infrastructure concerned as well as the 
costs of its use; 
(c) Collection of the tolls is organized in such a way as 
to hinder the free movement of traffic as little as 
possible. To this end Member States shall adapt their 
methods of collection to the most efficient techno­
logical developments. 
2. New tolls may be introduced only for structures 
completed after the entry into force of this Directive. 
Article 6 
1. For taxation purposes heavy goods vehicles shall be 
classified by categories according to the number and 
configuration of their axles. 
2. Within each category or sub-category the basis of 
taxation shall be the maximum permissible gross laden 
weight of the heavy goods vehicles. 
3. Tax rates shall be differentiated by increments of 
gross laden weight of not more than 2 000 kilograms. 
Article 7 
1. Procedures for the levying and collection of taxes 
shall be determined by each Member State. 
2. In the case of articulated vehicles and road trains, 
tax rates may be determined: 
— for each part of the combination taken separately, or 
— for the combination as a whole. 
Article 8 
1. Heavy goods vehicles shall be exempted, in 
Member States other than the Member State under 
whose jurisdiction they fall, from the taxes mentioned in 
Article 3. These vehicles shall be subject to those taxes as 
if they were used exclusively in the Member State under 
whose jurisdiction they fall. 
2. Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 8 of 
Council Directive 75/130/EEC of 17 February 1975 on 
the establishment of common rules for certain types of combined transport of goods between Member States ('), 
as amended by Council Directive 82/603/EEC of 28 
July 1982 (2), Member States may not grant heavy goods 
vehicles any exemption from or reduction in the taxes 
mentioned in Article 3 and in particular: 
(a) on the grounds of their being in the territory of 
other Member States; 
(b) on the grounds that they may have paid tolls in the 
sense of Article 5; 
(c) on the grounds of certain quantitative or qualitative 
characteristics of heavy goods vehicles (e.g. age of 
vehicles, number of vehicles in a single enterprise, 
etc.). 
3. Member States may not grant any refund of vehicle 
tax on the basis of excise duty on diesel fuel which may 
be paid in respect of its vehicles for the period during 
which they are on the territory of other Member States. 
4. However, Member States may grant exemptions 
from or reduction in tax in respect of the time the 
vehicles referred to in Article 2 spend in the territory of 
third countries, if the vehicles concerned are required to 
pay vehicle taxes similar to the tax resulting from this 
Directive. 
Article 9 
1. With immediate effect from the date of adoption of 
this Directive and subject to paragraph 2, Member States 
shall not reduce their existing heavy goods vehicle tax 
rates. They may however increase vehicle tax rates to 
obtain a better coverage of infrastructure costs. 
2. After consultation of the Commission, Member 
States may, however, reduce heavy goods vehicle taxes if 
substantial increases take place in the level of excise 
duties on diesel fuel in force on the date of adoption of 
this Directive. The Commission shall formulate its 
opinions within two months after receipt of notification 
by the Member States concerned. 
Article 10 
1. After 31 December 1992 infrastructure costs shall 
be charged to users through a combination of taxes on 
the possession or use of heavy goods vehicles levied in 
accordance with the principle of territoriality and, where 
they exist, tolls, taking account of the fact that excise 
duties on diesel oil will have been harmonized at 
Community level by that date. The principle of territor­
iality shall mean that the allocation of infrastructure 
costs shall be determined for each vehicle category on 
the basis of the use of the road infrastructure in the 
country of registration and the use of road infrastructure 
in the other Member States of the Community. 
(') OJ No L 48, 22. 2. 1975, p. 31. 
(2) OJ No L 247, 23. 8. 1982, p. 6. 
26. 3. 88 Official Journal of the European Communities NoC 79/11 
2. The Commission shall submit a proposal to 
implement the principles referred to in paragraph 1 
above by 1 July 1989 for adoption by the Council before 
31 December 1990. 
The proposal will in particular deal with methods of 
infrastructure cost-calculation, -allocation and -charging, 
as well as with systems of collection and distribution of 
funds. 
Article 11 
1. After consulting the Commission, Member States 
shall take the measures necessary to comply with this Directive as from 1 January 1990. Member States shall 
inform the Commission of the measures they take to 
implement the Directive. 
2. Member States which at the date of adoption of 
this Directive do not set their tax rates to the maximum 
permissible gross laden weight may extend the period in 
which they adopt the structure of vehicle tax to the 
requirement of Article 6 (2) and (3) up to 31 December 
1992. 
Article 12 
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.