Council Regulation (EC) No 2411/98 of 3 November 1998 on the recognition in intra-Community traffic of the distinguishing sign of the Member State in which motor vehicles and their trailers are registered
Date: 1998-11-03
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: EU Member State, European symbol, approximation of laws, commercial vehicle, motor vehicle, vehicle registration

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I

(Acts whose publication is obligatory)

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 2411/98

of 3 November 1998

on the recognition in intra-Community traffic of the distinguishing sign of the
Member State in which motor vehicles and their trailers are registered

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 75(1)(d) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee (2),

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in
Article 189c of the Treaty (3),

(1) Whereas the Community has adopted a certain
number of measures that are intended to ensure the
smooth functioning
an internal market
of
comprising an area without frontiers in which the
free movement of goods, persons, services and
capital is ensured in accordance with the provisions
of the Treaty;

(2) Whereas several Member States are contracting
parties to the Vienna Convention of 1968 on road
traffic (4), hereinafter referred to as the ‘Conven-
tion', Article 37 of which provides that every motor
vehicle in international traffic shall display at the
rear, in addition to its registration number, a distin-
guishing sign of the State in which it is registered;

(3) Whereas the Community is not a contracting party
to the convention and whereas some of its Member
States which are parties to it have recourse to the
provisions of Article 37 of the Convention; whereas
those Member States thus require vehicles from
other Member States to display the distinguishing
sign provided for by Annex 3 to the Convention;

(1) OJ C 290, 24. 9. 1997, p. 25 and OJ C 159, 26. 5. 1998,

p. 16.

(2) OJ C 95, 30. 3. 1998, p. 32.
(3) Opinion of the European Parliament of 19 February 1998 (OJ
C 80, 16. 3. 1998, p. 210), Council Common Position of 5
June 1998 (OJ C 227, 20. 7. 1998, p. 31) and Decision of the
European Parliament of 7 October 1998 (not yet published in
the Official Journal).

(4) Vienna Convention of 8 November 1968, concluded under
the auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for
Europe.

whereas some of
those Member States do not
recognise other distinguishing signs such as those
displayed on registration plates which, while indi-
cating the Member State in which the vehicle is
registered, do not conform to Annex 3 to the
Convention;

(4) Whereas several Member States have introduced a
model registration plate which, on the extreme left,
displays a blue zone containing the 12 yellow stars
representing the European flag plus the distin-
guishing sign of the Member State of registration;
whereas for the purpose of intra-Community trans-
port this distinguishing sign meets the objective of
identifying the State of registration as provided for
in Article 37 of the Convention;

(5) Whereas Member States requiring vehicles from
other Member States to display the distinguishing
sign of the State of registration should also recog-
nise the sign as provided for in the Annex to this
Regulation,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

This Regulation shall apply to vehicles registered in the
Member States that are driven within the Community.

Article 2

For the purposes of this Regulation:

1.

‘distinguishing sign of the Member State of registra-
tion' shall mean a set composed of one to three letters
in Latin capitals indicating the Member State in which
the vehicle is registered;

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2.

‘vehicle' shall mean any motor vehicle and its trailer as
defined in:

— Council Directive 70/156/EEC of 6 February 1970
on the approximation of the laws of the Member
relating to the type-approval of motor
States
vehicles and their trailers (1),

— Council Directive 92/61/EEC of 30 June 1992
relating to the type-approval of two or three-wheel
motor vehicles (2).

when they are being driven on their territory shall recog-
nise the distinguishing sign of the Member State of regis-
tration displayed on the extreme left of the registration
plate in accordance with the Annex to this Regulation as
being equivalent to any other distinguishing sign that
they recognise for the purpose of identifying the State in
which the vehicle is registered.

Article 4

Article 3

Member States requiring vehicles registered in another
Member State to display a distinguishing registration sign

This Regulation shall enter
into force on the day
following its publication in the Official Journal of the
European Communities.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member
States.

Done at Brussels, 3 November 1998.

For the Council

The President
B. PRAMMER

(1) OJ L 42, 23. 2. 1970, p. 1. Directive as last amended by Dir-

ective 97/27/EC (OJ L 233, 25. 8. 1997, p. 1).

(2) OJ L 225, 10. 8. 1992, p. 72. Directive as amended by the

1994 Act of Accession.

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ANNEX

SPECIFICATIONS FOR THE DISTINGUISHING SIGN OF THE MEMBER STATE OF
REGISTRATION TO BE AFFIXED AT THE EXTREME LEFT OF THE REGISTRATION
PLATE

MODEL 1 (example)

Colours:

1. Retro-reflecting blue background (Munsell reference 5,9 pb 3,4/15,1)

2.

12 retro-reflecting yellow stars

3. Retro-reflecting distinguishing sign of the Member State of registration, of a

white or yellow colour

Composition and dimensions:

1. Blue background:

height = minimum 98 mm

width = minimum 40 mm, maximum 50 mm

2. The centres of the 12 stars to be arranged in a 15 mm radius circle; distance

between two opposing peaks of any star = 4 to 5 mm

3. Distinguishing sign of the Member State of registration:

MODEL 2 (example)

height = minimum 20 mm

width of character stroke = 4 to 5 mm

Where the dimensions of the blue background have been reduced for registration
plates taking up two lines (see model 2) and/or for registration plates intended for
two or three-wheel motor vehicles, the dimensions of the stars and of the
distinguishing sign of the Member State of registration may be proportionately
reduced.