Directive 2004/11/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 February 2004 amending Council Directive 92/24/EEC relating to speed limitation devices or similar speed limitation on-board systems of certain categories of motor vehicles
Date: 2004-02-11
Institutions: Council of the European Union, European Parliament
Subjects: marketing standard, motor vehicle, safety device, speed control

14.2.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 44/19

DIRECTIVE 2004/11/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

of 11 February 2004

amending Council Directive 92/24/EEC relating to speed limitation devices or similar speed limita-
tion on-board systems of certain categories of motor vehicles

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EURO-
PEAN UNION,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 95 thereof,

Article 1

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Directive 92/24/EEC is hereby amended as follows:

1. Article 1 shall be replaced by the following:

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and
Social Committee,

‘Article 1

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article
251 of the Treaty (1),

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

Measures should be adopted for the purpose of ensuring
the smooth functioning of the internal market.

Council Directive 92/24/EEC (2) is one of the separate
directives under the Community approval procedure
introduced by Council Directive 70/156/EEC of 6
February 1970 on the approximation of the laws of the
Member States relating to the type-approval of motor
vehicles and their trailers (3). The provisions and defini-
tions laid down in Directive 70/156/EEC concerning
vehicles, vehicles
systems, components and separate
technical units will thus apply to this Directive.

for vehicles used for

Speed limitation devices
the
carriage of passengers and for the carriage of goods
having a maximum mass exceeding 10 tonnes have
shown a positive influence on road safety and reduced
the severity of injuries in cases of accidents, while also
reducing air pollution and fuel consumption.

Council Directive 92/6/EEC of 10 February 1992 on the
installation and use of speed limitation devices for
certain categories of motor vehicles
in the Com-
munity (4) has been extended to lighter motor vehicles of
categories M2 and N2. It is therefore necessary to amend
the scope of Directive 92/24/EEC relating to the
construction requirements for speed limiters accordingly
to cover the same categories of motor vehicles.

(5)

Directive 92/24/EEC should therefore be
accordingly,

amended

(1) Opinion of the European Parliament of 9 October 2003 (not yet
Journal) and Council Decision of 20

published in the Official
January 2004.

(2) OJ L 129, 14.5.1992, p. 154.
(3) OJ L 42, 23.2.1970, p. 1. Directive as last amended by Regulation

(EC) No 807/2003 (OJ L 122, 16.5.2003, p. 36).

(4) OJ L 57, 2.3.1992, p. 27. Directive as last amended by Directive
2002/85/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L
327, 4.12.2002, p. 8).

For the purpose of this Directive:
— “vehicle” shall mean any motor vehicle of categories M2,
M3, N2 or N3, as defined in Annex II to Directive 70/
156/EEC, intended for use on the road, having at least
four wheels and a maximum design speed exceeding
25 km/h,

— “speed limitation device” shall mean a speed-limiting
appliance intended for use on a vehicle within the scope
of this Directive for which type-approval of a separate
technical unit within the meaning of Directive 70/156/
EEC may be granted. Built-in maximum vehicle speed
limitation systems, incorporated into the design of vehi-
cles from the outset, shall meet the same requirements
as speed limitation devices.’;

2. the first sentence of the third subparagraph of item 1.1. of

Annex I shall be replaced by the following:

‘The purpose of this Directive is to limit to a specified value
the maximum road speed of goods vehicles of categories N2
and N3 and of passenger-carrying vehicles of categories M2
and M3.’

Article 2

1. With effect from 17 November 2004, Member States
may not, on grounds relating to speed limitation devices or
similar systems:

— refuse to grant EC type-approval or national-type approval
of a vehicle, a speed limitation device or a speed limitation
on-board system,

— prohibit the registration, sale or entry into service of a
vehicle or refuse the sale or entry into service of a speed
limitation device or a speed limitation on-board system,

if the vehicles, speed limitation devices or speed limitation on-
board systems comply with the provisions of Directive 92/24/
EEC.

2. With effect from 1 January 2005, Member States shall, on
grounds relating to speed limitation devices or speed limitation
on-board systems, prohibit
the sale, the registration or the
entry into service of vehicles, speed limitation devices or speed
limitation on-board systems which do not comply with the
provisions of Directive 92/24/EEC.

L 44/20

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

14.2.2004

Article 3

Article 4

shall adopt and publish, before 17
1. Member States
November 2004,
regulations and administrative
provisions necessary to comply with this Directive. They shall
forthwith inform the Commission thereof. They shall apply
these measures from 18 November 2004.

the laws,

2. When Member States adopt those measures, they shall
contain a reference to this Directive or shall be accompanied
by such a reference on the occasion of their official publication.
The methods of making such reference shall be laid down by
the Member States.

3. Member States shall communicate to the Commission the
text of the main provisions of national law which they adopt in
the field covered by this Directive.

This Directive shall enter into force on the third day following
its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Directive is addressed to the Member States.

Article 5

Done at Strasbourg, 11 February 2004.

For the European Parliament

The President

P. COX

For the Council

The President

M. McDOWELL