Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the 'Report from the Commission on the use of buses and coaches of up to 15 m in length'
Date: 1999-01-27
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: ESC opinion, bus, technical regulations, weights and measures

C 101/22

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Official Journal of the European Communities

12.4.1999

Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the ‘Report from the Commission on the
use of buses and coaches of up to 15 m in length’

(1999/C 101/06)

On 28 May 1998 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee,
under Article 198 of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, on the
above-mentioned report.

The Section for Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society, which was
responsible for preparing the Committee’s work on the subject, adopted its opinion on
12 January 1999. The rapporteur was Mr Garcı´a Alonso.

At its 360th plenary session (meeting of 27 January 1999) the Economic and Social Committee
adopted the following opinion by 119 votes to two, with three abstentions.

1.

Introduction

Council Directive 96/53/EC (1) of 25 July 1996
1.1.
lays down for certain road vehicles circulating within
the Community the maximum authorized dimensions
in national and international traffic and the maximum
authorized weights in international traffic.

Article 3 of this directive stipulates that 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 goods vehicles registered or
put into circulation in any other Member State for
reasons relating to their dimensions.

Annex 1, point 1.1, of the directive lays down a
maximum authorized length of 12 m for buses and
coaches in international traffic. It follows that a Member
State has the option to authorize maximum dimensions
over 12 m for buses and coaches circulating within its
territory, but only those complying with the directive
can circulate freely throughout EU territory.

1.2.
Consequently there is currently no European
legislation harmonizing the dimensions of rigid buses
and coaches of more than 12 m in length. At the present
time, 15 m buses are permitted on the roads in Germany,
Belgium, Spain and, with special authorization, Austria,
Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Maximum lengths
of over 12 m are laid down in Denmark (13.7 m), Finland
(14,5 m) and Sweden (14 m). The maximum length is
12 m in France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and the
United Kingdom.

1.3.
currently guaranteed the right

Passenger buses of up to 12 m in length are
to circulate freely

throughout the EU, while the registration and circulation
of vehicles of 15 m is permitted on national territory in
most Member States.

However, as there is no European legislation harmoniz-
ing the 15 m maximum for rigid buses, the upshot is
that 15 m coaches are stopped on the road, not allowed
to continue or are tolerated if they are registered in
another country. This impedes the free circulation of
buses of more than 12 m in the EU.

This situation infringes the principle of free movement
in the EU as enshrined in Article 3c) of the EEC
Treaty, namely the establishment of an internal market
characterized by the abolition, as between Member
States, of obstacles to the free movement of goods,
persons, services and capital. The continued stopping
of vehicles on Europe’s roads impedes the completion
of the internal market.

2. Summary of the Commission report

The report of the European Commission (2) on
2.1.
the use of buses and coaches of up to 15 m in length
examines the issues connected with such vehicles, using
the information supplied by the national authorities
of the Member States and by the bus and coach
manufacturers and operators. Generally speaking it may
be concluded that the Commission’s report takes a
positive view of vehicles of maximum length 15 m.

2.2.
After clarifying the distinction between bus and
coach according to length of route (short for buses and
longer for coaches), the Commission looks at the current
national legislation of the Member States. In line with

(1) Published in OJ L 235, 17.9.1996, p. 59.

(2) COM(97) 499 final, 27.5.1998.

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the information provided in point 1.2 of this opinion, it
should be noted that some changes have taken place in
this sphere since the Commission drew up its report. In
Spain, for instance, the use of vehicles of maximum
length 15 m has been permitted since 31 October 1997.

The Commission examines the commercial, tech-
2.3.
nical, safety and environmental, infrastructure, manu-
facturing, and other legislative considerations for the
use of 15 m buses and coaches.

C o m m e r c i a l c o n s i d e r a t i o n s

With regard to the capacity, price, user charges, competi-
tiveness and resale value of coaches, the Commission
acknowledges the commercial advantages of buses over
12 m in length and stresses that, in the case of passenger
transport, the inventive use made by certain operators
of the additional space offered in 15 m vehicles is
a positive step to encourage modal shift to public
transport.

T e c h n i c a l c o n s i d e r a t i o n s

According to the manufacturers, passenger vehicles of
over 12 m meet the requirement laid down in Directive
96/53/EC (1) that they be able to turn in a swept circle
having an outer radius of 12,50 m and an inner radius
of 5,30 m in order to be able to circulate freely in the
EU. With regard to weight, however, 15 m vehicles
require three axles to comply with national and EU rules
on total vehicle weights and axle weights. The individual
technical parts and characteristics of passenger vehicles
such as braking systems, lighting, emissions, etc., are
covered by Directive 70/156/EEC which applies equally
to vehicles of over 15 m.

S a f e t y
a t i o n s

a n d

e n v i r o n m e n t a l

c o n s i d e r -

It can be argued that 15 m buses are safer. The first
argument put forward by the Commission is that 15 m
vehicles, because they have three or four axles, have
improved road-holding qualities compared with equiva-
lent 2-axle vehicles and possibly also better stability and
braking characteristics. With regard to the environmen-
tal considerations, the Commission puts forward two
positive arguments: the fuel consumption per passenger
carried on a 15 m vehicle is around 10 % less than with
a 12 m vehicle and the road space required per passenger
is some 15 % less, in both cases assuming the vehicle is
full.

(1) Published in OJ L 235, 17.9.1996.

I n f r a s t r u c t u r e c o n s i d e r a t i o n s

A distinction is made between buses and coaches. The
use of 15 m buses will mean some financial outlay
for local authorities; nevertheless, the Commission
considers that this problem could be dealt with by
suitable provisions in EU legislation. In the case of
coaches, it would be necessary to provide additional
parking spaces which would mean extra financial costs
for local authorities.

M a n u f a c t u r i n g c o n s i d e r a t i o n s

Although some manufacturers do not offer buses or
coaches over 12 m in length, they are favourably disposed
towards their manufacture in the future.

O t h e r l e g i s l a t i v e c o n s i d e r a t i o n s

Given the differences between national legislation as to
whether or not skiboxes and luggage trailers should be
included in the maximum length of buses and coaches,
the Commission advocates Community legislation to
regulate and harmonize this aspect.

2.4.
The Commission offers a range of different
legislative options for the use of 15 m buses and coaches.
The alternatives presented by the Commission range
from maintaining the current legislation — no change
in the situation, so that 12 m buses and coaches could
continue to circulate freely in the EU — to the adoption
of some form of legislation for 15 m buses. For the latter
case, the Commission sets out various possible degrees
of legislation:

— The first Commission option is to have a harmonized
limit of 12 m for all rigid vehicles, whilst permitting
existing vehicles of up to 15 m to continue to circulate
nationally for a given period under the principle of
‘grandfathers rights’.

— The second option consists of a harmonized limit of
15 m for rigid buses but with a different turning
circle requirement. Rigid vehicles over 12 m in
length could be required to perform an additional
manoeuvrability test.

— The third option is a harmonized limit of 15 m for
rigid buses with no additional requirements. This
limit would permit the full range of vehicles, includ-
ing those of 12,75 m, 13,5 m, 13,75 m, etc. in length,
on any number of axles.

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— The fourth option is to have a differentiated limit
according to the number of axles. 2-axle passenger
vehicles would be limited to 12 m, 3-axle vehicles to
13,5 m and 4-axle vehicles to 15 m.

— The fifth option is to have a harmonized limit of
15 m for international traffic, with differing national
rules. This option would require the amendment of
Directive 96/53/EC to ensure that buses and coaches
of up to 15 m in length on international journeys
would be allowed to circulate freely in the Com-
munity, whilst permitting Member States to set
different rules for national traffic.

3. Comments by the Committee

The Committee is averse to maintaining the
3.1.
status quo whereby some Member States authorize 15 m
vehicles with or without a special permit, while other
Member States prohibit the sale and registration of such
vehicles. As the Commission points out in its report, the
current situation lacks clarity and stability for operators
providing intra-Community transport services and leads
to distortions of competition.

The Committee considers that the use of 15 m
3.2.
vehicles should be authorized throughout
the EU,
without any additional technical requirements being
introduced into Community legislation. The Committee
therefore favours option 3. From a constructors’ point
of view, they already have sufficient technical expertise
to supply rigid 15 m buses and coaches which are easy

Brussels, 27 January 1999.

to manoeuvre, are able to comply with the swept circle
requirements, have the same — if not better — levels
of safety as 12 m vehicles and do not pollute the
environment. Bearing these factors in mind, the Com-
mittee supports the free circulation throughout the
European Union of 15 m buses and coaches because these
vehicles comply with the manoeuvrability requirements,
are safe and meet environmental standards.

3.3.
Restricting the use of 15 m vehicles to inter-
national transport would leave the present situation
more or less as it is, with some Member States authorizing
their use at national level and others not. This would
maintain the distortions of competition and seriously
hamper cabotage operations. Such a situation should be
avoided. Nevertheless, the Committee acknowledges
that the use of 15 m buses and coaches may cause
difficulties in some areas. In accordance with the
subsidiarity principle, it should be the national, regional
and local authorities who, taking into account the nature
of the places in which these vehicles are used, adopt
appropriate measures to limit access.

4. Conclusions

4.1.
For all these reasons, and particularly in the light
of point 2.5 of the Commission report (‘Safety and
environmental considerations’), the Committee would
choose option 3 (point 3.2.3) of the Commission report
and urges the European institutions to harmonize the
15 m limit for rigid buses and coaches, without additional
requirements, and to amend Directive 96/53/EC accord-
ingly.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Beatrice RANGONI MACHIAVELLI