Common Position (EC) No 25/2004 of 22 March 2004 adopted by the Council, acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 251 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, with a view to adopting a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the interoperability of electronic road toll systems in the Community (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2004-03-22
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: common transport policy, road transport, toll, trans-European network

20.4.2004

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COMMON POSITION (EC) No 25/2004

adopted by the Council on 22 March 2004

with a view to the adoption of a Directive 2004/. . ./EC of the European Parliament and of the
Council of . . . on the interoperability of electronic road toll systems in the Community

(2004/C 95 E/06)

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE
EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 71(1) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and
Social Committee (1),

Having regard to the opinion of
Regions (2),

the Committee of

the

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

Whereas:

(1) By its Resolution of 17 June 1997 on the development of
telematics in road transport, in particular with respect to
electronic fee collection (EFC) (4), the Council called on the
Commission and Member States to develop a strategy for
the convergence of EFC systems in order to achieve an
appropriate level of interoperability at a European level.
The communication of the Commission on interoperable
electronic fee collection systems in Europe was the first
stage of this strategy.

(2) The majority of Member States which have installed elec-
tronic toll systems to finance road infrastructure costs or
to collect road usage fees (jointly referred to hereinafter as
‘electronic toll systems’) use short-range microwave tech-
nology and frequencies close to 5,8 GHz, but
these
systems are currently not totally compatible. The work
on microwave technology undertaken by the European

(1) OJ C 32, 5.2.2004. p. 36.
(2) OJ C 73, 23.3.2004, p. 54.
(3) Opinion of the European Parliament of 18 December 2003 (not yet
published in the Official
Journal), Council Common Position of
22 March 2004 and Position of the European Parliament of . . .
(not yet published in the Official Journal).

(4) OJ C 194, 25.6.1997, p. 5.

Committee for Standardisation (CEN) resulted in January
2003 in the preparation of technical standards making for
the compatibility of 5,8 GHz microwave electronic toll
systems, following the adoption of technical pre-standards
in 1997. However, these pre-standards do not cover all the
Dedicated Short-Range Communications (DSRC) 5,8 GHz
systems in operation in the Community and encompass
two variants which are not totally compatible. They are
based on the Open Systems Interconnection model defined
by the International Standardisation Organisation for
communication between computer systems.

(3) Manufacturers of equipment and infrastructure managers
have nonetheless agreed, within the Community,
to
develop interoperable products based on existing DSRC
5,8 GHz systems. The equipment that will need to be
made available to users should accordingly be capable of
communicating with the technologies that may only be
used in new electronic toll systems to be deployed in
the Community after 1 January 2007, namely satellite
tech-
positioning technology, mobile communications
nology using the GSM-GPRS standard and 5,8 GHz
microwave technology.

(4)

(5)

It is essential that the standardisation work be completed
as quickly as possible to establish technical standards
ensuring technical compatibility among electronic toll
systems based on 5,8 GHz microwave technology and
on satellite positioning and mobile communications tech-
nologies, in order to avoid further fragmentation of the
market.

It is necessary to provide for the widespread deployment
of electronic toll systems in the Member States and neigh-
bouring countries, and the need is arising to have inter-
operable systems suited to the future development of road-
charging policy at Community level and to future
technical developments.

(6) The electronic toll systems should be interoperable and
based on open and public standards, available on a
non-discriminatory basis to all system suppliers.

(7)

In introducing new electronic toll
sufficient
equipment should be made available to avoid discrimi-
nation between the undertakings concerned.

systems,

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(8)

In particular, owing to their great flexibility and versatility,
application of the new satellite positioning (GNSS) and
mobile communications (GSM/GPRS) technologies to elec-
tronic toll systems may serve to meet the requirements of
the new road-charging policies planned at Community and
Member State level. These technologies enable the number
of kilometres covered per category of road to be counted
without requiring costly investment in infrastructure. They
also open the door
to additional new safety and
information services for travellers, such as the automatic
alarm triggered by a vehicle involved in an accident and
indicating its position, and real-time information on traffic
conditions, traffic levels and journey times. With regard to
satellite positioning, the Galileo project launched by the
Community in 2002 is designed to provide, as of 2008,
information services of higher quality than that provided
by the current satellite navigation systems and which are
optimal for road telematic services. The European geos-
tationary navigation overlay service (EGNOS) precursor
system will already be operational
in 2004, providing
similar results. However, these innovative systems could
raise problems concerning the reliability of checks and
with regard to fraud prevention. However, owing to the
considerable advantages referred to above, the application
of satellite positioning and mobile communications tech-
nologies is in principle to be recommended in introducing
new electronic toll systems.

States

the Member

(9) The proliferation of technologies for electronic toll systems
already in use or planned in the coming years (mainly
5,8 GHz microwave,
satellite positioning and mobile
communications) and the proliferation of specifications
imposed by
and neighbouring
countries for their electronic toll systems may compromise
both the smooth operation of the internal market and
transport policy objectives. Such a situation is liable to
lead to the proliferation of incompatible and expensive
electronic boxes in the driving cabs of heavy goods
vehicles, and to drivers making mistakes when using
them with the result,
for example, of unintentionally
avoiding payment. Such a proliferation is unacceptable
to users and to manufacturers of vehicles for cost, safety
and legal reasons.

definition of the European electronic toll service needs to
address that concern. Provision should, moreover, be made
to ensure that the technologies and components provided
for can, as far as technically possible, also be combined
with other vehicle components, in particular the electronic
tachograph and emergency call capabilities.
Intermodal
systems should not be excluded at a later stage.

(12) The option of accessing other,

future applications in
addition to toll collection should be ensured by fitting
appropriate equipment.

(13) A European electronic toll service should provide inter-
operability at technical, contractual and procedural level,
covering:

(a) a single contract between the clients and the operators
offering the service, complying with a contractual set
of
to
issuers
to the whole
provide the service, giving access
network;

rules allowing all operators and/or

(b) a set of technical standards and requirements allowing
the industry to provide the necessary equipment for
the provision of the service.

(14) Contractual

interoperability provides
facilitation to some

for
and for
important
significant economies in administration for commercial
road users.

the potential

road-users

for all

(10) Artificial barriers to the operation of the internal market
should be removed, while still allowing the Member States
and the Community to implement a variety of road-
charging policies
local,
installed
national or international
in vehicles should allow such road-charging policies to
be implemented in accordance with the principles of
non-discrimination between the citizens of all Member
States. The interoperability of electronic toll systems at
Community level therefore needs to be ensured as soon
as possible.

types of vehicles at

level. The equipment

thus increasing road safety,
cash transactions

(15) Electronic toll systems contribute significantly to reducing
to
the risk of accidents,
and to
reducing the number of
toll plazas, especially on busy
reducing congestion at
days. They also reduce
environmental
impact of waiting and restarting vehicles and congestion,
as well as the environmental impact related to the instal-
lation of new toll gates or expansion of existing toll
stations.

the negative

(11) Drivers are legitimately concerned to see improved quality
of service on the road infrastructure, in particular in terms
of safety, as well as a substantial reduction in congestion
at
toll plazas, especially on busy days and at certain
particularly congested points in the road network. The

(16) The White Paper on European Transport Policy for 2010
contains objectives of safety and fluidity of road traffic.
Interoperable Intelligent Transport Services and Systems
are a key tool in the achievement of these objectives.

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inter alia in Directive 95/46/EC of

(17) The introduction of electronic toll systems will entail the
processing of personal data. Such processing needs to be
carried out in accordance with Community rules, as set
out
the European
Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on
the protection of individuals with regard to the processing
of personal data and on the free movement of such data (1)
and Directive 2002/58/EC of the European Parliament and
of the Council of 12 July 2002 concerning the processing
of personal data and the protection of privacy in the elec-
tronic communications sector (2). The right to protection
of personal data is explicitly recognised by Article 8 of the
Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

(22) To set up the European electronic toll service it will first
be necessary to establish guidelines to be laid down by the
Electronic Toll Committee established by this Directive.

(23) This Directive does not affect the Member States' freedom
to lay down rules governing road infrastructure charging
and taxation matters.

(24) The measures necessary for the implementation of this
Directive should be adopted in accordance with Council
Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the
procedures
implementing powers
the exercise of
conferred on the Commission (3),

for

(18) Automatic debiting of toll charges to bank accounts or
credit/debit card accounts which are domiciled anywhere,
in the Community and beyond, is conditional on a fully
operational Community payments area with non-discrimi-
natory service charges.

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:

Article 1

Objective and scope

of

and

future

technological

and
developments without

(19) Systems of electronic toll collection which are put in place
in the Member States should meet the following funda-
mental criteria: the system should be amenable to ready
systems
incorporation
costly
improvements
redundancy of older models and methods, the costs of
its adoption by commercial and private road users
should be insignificant compared with the benefits to
those road users as well as to society as a whole, and its
be
any Member
implementation
non-discriminatory in all respects between domestic road
users and road users from other Member States.

should

State

in

(20) Since the objectives of this Directive,

in particular, the
interoperability of electronic toll systems in the internal
market and the introduction of a European electronic
toll service covering the entire Community road network
on which tolls are charged, cannot be sufficiently achieved
by the Member States and can therefore, by reason of their
European dimension, be better achieved at Community
level, the Community may take measures, in accordance
with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of
the Treaty. In accordance with the principle of propor-
tionality as set out in that Article,
this Directive does
not go beyond what
is necessary in order to achieve
those objectives.

(21) The inclusion of

interested parties (such as toll-service
operators, infrastructure managers, electronics and motor
in Commission consultations on
industries and users)
technical
the
of
European electronic toll service should be provided for.
Where appropriate, the Commission should also consult
non-governmental organisations active in the field of
privacy protection, road safety and the environment.

contractual

creating

aspects

and

This Directive lays down the conditions necessary to
1.
ensure the interoperability of electronic road toll systems in
the Community. It applies to the electronic collection of all
types of road fees, on the entire Community road network,
urban and interurban, motorways, major and minor roads,
and various structures such as tunnels, bridges and ferries.

2.

This Directive does not apply to:

(a) road toll systems for which no electronic means of toll

collection exists;

(b) electronic road toll systems which do not need the instal-

lation of on-board equipment;

(c) small, strictly local road toll systems for which the costs of
compliance with the requirements of this Directive would
be disproportionate to the benefits.

3.
To achieve the objective set in paragraph 1, a European
electronic toll service shall be created. This service, which is
complementary to the national electronic toll services of the
Member States, shall ensure the interoperability throughout the
Community, for users, of the electronic toll systems that have
already been introduced in the Member States and of those to
be introduced in the future in the framework of this Directive.

Article 2

Technological solutions

All new electronic toll systems brought into service on or
1.
after 1 January 2007 shall,
for carrying out electronic toll
transactions, use one or more of the following technologies:

(1) OJ L 281, 23.11.1995, p. 31. Directive as amended by Regulation

(EC) No 1882/2003 (OJ L 284, 31.10.2003, p. 1).

(a) satellite positioning;

(2) OJ L 201, 31.7.2002, p. 37.

(3) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.

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(b) mobile communications using the GSM-GPRS standard

(reference GSM TS 03.60/23.060);

(c) 5,8 GHz microwave technology

7. Member States shall ensure that processing of personal
data necessary for the operation of the European electronic toll
service is carried out in accordance with the Community rules
protecting the freedoms and fundamental rights of individuals,
including their privacy, and that, in particular, the provisions of
Directives 95/46/EC and 2002/58/EC are complied with.

The European electronic toll service shall be brought into
2.
service pursuant to Article 3(1). Operators shall make available
to interested users on-board equipment which is suitable for
use with all electronic toll systems in service in the Member
States using the technologies referred to in paragraph 1 and
which is suitable for use in all types of vehicle, in accordance
with the timetable set out in Article 3(4). This equipment shall
at least be interoperable and capable of communicating with all
the systems operating in the Member States using one or more
listed in paragraph 1. The detailed
of
arrangements
shall be determined by the
Committee referred to in Article 5(1), including arrangements
for the availability of on-board equipment to meet the demand
of interested users.

the technologies

in this respect

It

is

In respect of

3.
recommended that new electronic toll systems
brought into service after the adoption of this Directive use
the satellite positioning and mobile communications tech-
nologies listed in paragraph 1.
the possible
migration to systems using such technologies by systems
using other technologies, the Commission, in liaison with the
Committee referred to in Article 5(1), shall draw up a report by
31 December 2009. This report shall include a study of use of
each of the technologies referred to in paragraph 1, as well as a
the Commission shall
cost-benefit analysis.
If appropriate,
to the European
accompany the report with a proposal
Parliament and the Council for a migration strategy.

4. Without prejudice to paragraph 1, on-board equipment
may also be suitable for other technologies, on condition that
this does not lead to an additional burden for users or create
discrimination between them. Where
relevant, on-board
equipment may also be linked to the vehicle's electronic
tachograph.

5. Where Member States have toll systems, they shall take
the necessary measures to increase the use of electronic toll
systems. They shall endeavour to ensure that, by 1 January
2007 at the latest, at least 50 % of traffic flow in each toll
station can use electronic toll systems. Lanes used for electronic
toll collection may also be used for toll collection by other
means, with due regard to safety.

Interoperability work on existing

6.
technologies
undertaken in connection with the European electronic toll
service shall ensure the full compatibility and interfacing of
those technologies with the
referred to in
paragraph 1 and of their equipment with each other.

technologies

toll

Article 3

Setting-up of a European electronic toll service

A European electronic toll service shall be set up which
1.
encompasses all the road network in the Community on which
tolls or road usage fees are collected electronically. This elec-
tronic toll service will be defined by a contractual set of rules
allowing all operators and/or issuers to provide the service, a
technical standards and requirements and a single
set of
subscription contract between the clients and the operators
and/or issuers offering the service. This contract shall give
access to the service on the whole of
the network and
subscriptions shall be available from the operator of any part
of the network and/or from the issuer.

The European electronic toll service shall be independent
2.
of the fundamental decisions taken by Member States to levy
tolls on particular types of vehicles, of the level of charges and
of the purpose for which such charges are levied.
It shall
concern only the method of collecting tolls or fees. The
service shall allow for contracts to be concluded irrespective
of the place of registration of the vehicle, the nationality of the
parties to the contract, and the zone or point on the road
network in respect of which the toll is due.

The system shall allow intermodality to develop without

3.
creating disadvantages for other modes of transport.

4. Where Member States have national systems of electronic
toll collection, they shall ensure that operators and/or issuers
offer the European electronic toll service to their customers in
accordance with the following timetable:

(a)

for all vehicles exceeding 3,5 tonnes and for all vehicles
which are allowed to carry more than nine passengers
(driver + 8), at the latest three years after the decisions
on the definition of the European electronic toll service,
as referred to in Article 4(4), have been taken;

(b) for all other types of vehicle, at the latest five years after
the decisions on the definition of the European electronic
toll service, as referred to in Article 4(4), have been taken.

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Article 4

Article 5

Features of the European electronic toll service

Committee procedure

The European electronic toll service shall be based on the

1.
items listed in the Annex to this Directive.

The Commission shall be assisted by an Electronic Toll

1.
Committee (hereinafter ‘the Committee’).

2. Where appropriate,
this Annex may be modified for
technical reasons in accordance with the procedure referred
to in Article 5(2).

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 5 and
7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to the
provisions of Article 8 thereof.

3.
The European electronic toll service shall employ the
technological solutions referred to in Article 2, using specifi-
cations which shall be publicly available.

4.
The decisions relating to the definition of the European
electronic toll service shall be taken by the Commission in
accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 5(2), by
1 July 2006. Such decisions shall only be taken if all the
conditions, evaluated on the basis of appropriate studies, are
in place to enable interoperability to work from all points of
view, including technical, legal and commercial.

5.
If the decisions referred to in paragraph 4 are not taken
by 1 July 2006, the Commission shall, in accordance with the
procedure referred to in Article 5(2), set a new date by which
such decisions are to be taken.

the
Technical decisions relating to the realisation of
6.
European electronic
taken by the
service
Commission in accordance with the procedure referred to in
Article 5(2).

shall be

toll

the CEN,

in particular

The Commission shall ask the relevant standardisation
7.
bodies,
in accordance with the
procedure laid down by Directive 98/34/EC of the European
Parliament and of the Council of 22 June 1998 laying down a
procedure for the provision of
information in the field of
every
standards
technical
necessary effort rapidly to adopt standards applicable to elec-
tronic toll systems with regard to the technologies listed in
Article 2(1).

regulations (1),

to make

and

8.
Equipment for the European electronic toll service shall
comply in particular with the requirements of Directives
1999/5/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of
9 March 1999 on radio equipment and telecommunications
their
terminal equipment and the mutual
conformity (2) and Council Directive 89/336/EC of 3 May
1989 on the approximation of
the Member
States relating to electromagnetic compatibility (3).

recognition of

the laws of

The period laid down in Article 5(6) of Decision 1999/468/EC
shall be set at three months.

3.

The Committee shall adopt its Rules of Procedure.

Article 6

Implementation

Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and
administrative provisions necessary to comply with this
Directive before . . . (*). They shall
immediately forward to
the Commission the text of those provisions, together with a
table correlating those provisions with this Directive.

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

Article 7

Entry into force

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

Article 8

Addressees

This Directive is addressed to the Member States.

Done at . . .

For the European Parliament

For the Council

The President

The President

(1) OJ L 204, 21.7.1998, p. 37. Directive as last amended by Directive

98/48/EC (OJ L 217, 5.8.1998, p. 18).

(2) OJ L 91, 7.4.1999, p. 10. Directive as amended by Regulation (EC)

No 1882/2003.

(3) OJ L 139, 23.5.1989, p. 19. Directive as last amended by Directive

93/68/EEC (OJ L 220, 30.8.1993, p. 1).

(*) 18 months after the date of entry into force of the Directive.

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ANNEX

ITEMS REQUIRED FOR THE DEFINITION AND DEPLOYMENT OF THE EUROPEAN ELECTRONIC TOLL
SERVICE

The matters listed below are essential for the definition and deployment of the European electronic toll service set up
under the Directive. These matters are distinguished between technical, procedural and legal issues:

Technical issues:

(a) operational procedures for the service: subscription, instructions for use, installation and attachment of on-board
equipment
in vehicles, processing of transactions at toll stations or for continuous charging, procedures for
recovering transaction-data in the event of equipment breakdown or malfunction, control systems, invoicing and
collection of sums due, after-sales service, customer assistance, definition of the level of service offered to customers;
when establishing such operational procedures, the existing procedures in the Member States shall be taken into
account;

(b) functional specifications of the service: description of the functions of on-board equipment and ground-based

equipment;

(c) technical specifications of ground-based and on-board equipment supporting the service, and the standards, certifi-

cation procedures and constraints to be observed;

(d) launching and following up work involving relevant standardisation bodies, and any technical additions to the

standards or pre-standards used, in order to ensure interoperability,

(e) specifications for installing on-board equipment;

(f)

transactional models: precise definition of transactional algorithms for each different type of toll (fixed-point tolls or
continuous charging), and definition of the data exchanged between on-board and ground-based equipment and of
the data formats;

(g) arrangements for the availability of on-board equipment to meet the demand of all interested users.

Procedural issues:

(h) procedures for verification of technical performance of on-board equipment, roadside equipment and the way

equipment is installed in vehicles;

(i) parameters for vehicle classification: validation of a Community list of technical parameters from which each
Member State will select those it wishes to use for its charging policy. The parameters will represent vehicles'
physical, engine and environmental characteristics. Establishment of vehicle classes based on those parameters will
be a matter for Member States;

(j)

implementation of procedures for dealing with particular cases, such as any type of malfunction. This relates in
particular to cases in which the road toll operators and the customer come from different countries.

Legal issues:

(k) validation of the chosen technical solutions vis-à-vis the Community rules protecting the freedoms and fundamental
rights of individuals, including their privacy. In particular, it will be necessary to ensure compliance with Directive
95/46/EC and Directive 2002/58/EC;

(l)

setting non-discriminatory common rules and minimum requirements which potential service providers should
respect when providing the service;

(m) assessment of the possibility of harmonising the rules of enforcement relating to electronic road tolls;

(n) a memorandum of understanding between road toll operators, enabling the European electronic toll service to be

implemented, including conflict resolution procedures.

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STATEMENT OF THE COUNCIL'S REASONS

I. INTRODUCTION

On 5 December 2003, the Council reached a general approach for its common position on the draft
Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the interoperability of electronic road toll
systems in the Community.

The Directive aims at ensuring the interoperability of electronic toll systems in the Community and the
introduction of a European electronic toll service which encompasses the entire road network in the
Community on which tolls are charged.

On 18 December 2003, the European Parliament adopted its opinion in first reading. In the light of
this opinion, the Council modified the text of the general approach on various points.

In carrying out its work, the Council also took account of the opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee and of the opinion of the Committee of the Regions.

In accordance with Article 251 of the Treaty, the Council adopted its Common Position on 22 March
2004.

II. ANALYSIS OF THE COMMON POSITION

1. General

The Council was able to agree on the major lines of the Commission proposal. On some points,
however, the Council decided to modify the text, generally in order to making it clearer, simpler and
easier to understand. A significant number of modifications resulted from the amendments presented
by the European Parliament.

The two main modifications operated by the Council are the following (unless otherwise indicated, the
articles referred to are those of the common position):

1. Whereas the Commission had proposed to make the use of satellite positioning and mobile
communications technologies obligatory in new electronic toll systems as of a certain date, the
Council decided that no such obligation should be imposed, and that the use of these technologies
should only be recommended (Article 2, paragraph 3). Hence, systems using traditional 5,8 GHz
microwave technology may continue to co-exist with systems using the new satellite technologies.

2. The Council modified the time-frame as proposed by the Commission for the putting into place of
is as follows:

the European electronic toll service. The time-frame agreed upon by the Council

(a) The decisions relating to the definition of this service should be taken at the latest by 1 July

2006 (Article 4, paragraph 4);

(b) Operators and/or issuers should offer the service to their customers according to the following

timetable (Article 3, paragraph 4):

— for all vehicles exceeding 3,5 tonnes and for all vehicles which are allowed to carry more
than nine passengers (driver + 8), at the latest three years after the decisions on the definition
of the service have been taken (so 1 July 2009 at the latest);

— for all other types of vehicle, at the latest five years after the decisions on the definition of

the service have been taken (so 1 July 2011 at the latest).

Other modifications concern the following:

3. The Council underscored that the Directive does not affect the freedom of Member States to lay

down rules governing road infrastructure charging and taxation matters (recital 22).

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4. The Council recalled that the Directive does not apply (a) to road toll systems for which no
electronic means of toll collection exists, and provided moreover that the Directive does not
apply (b) to electronic road toll systems which do not need the installation of equipment on
board vehicles, and (c) to small, strictly local road toll systems for which the costs of compliance
the Directive would be disproportionate to the benefits (Article 1,
with the requirements of
paragraph 2).

5. The Council confirmed that Member States which have toll systems should take the necessary
measures to increase the use of electronic toll systems, but provided that Member States only
need to endeavour to ensure that by 1 January 2007 at the latest, at least 50 % of traffic flow in
each toll station can use electronic toll systems.

6. As regards the definition of the European electronic toll service, the Council provided not only that
the decisions relating thereto should be taken by the Commission at the latest by 1 July 2006, but
also that such decisions should only be taken if all the conditions, evaluated on the basis of
appropriate studies, are in place to enable interoperability to work from all points of view,
including the technical, legal and commercial points of view. In case the decisions are not taken
before 1 July 2006, the Commission should set a new date by which such decisions are to be taken
in accordance with the regulatory comitology procedure.

7. In order to enhance the readability of the text, the Council decided to transfer the items whereupon
the European electronic tolls service should be based from Article 4 to a newly attached Annex to
the Directive (Article 4, paragraph 1 and Annex).

2. Amendments of Parliament

As regards the amendments of Parliament, the Council endeavoured to incorporate them to the greatest
extent possible. However, in some minor cases it was impossible to integrate an amendment, because
the relevant texts had been substantially modified or had even been deleted.

This being so, the Council was able to accept in its common position, to the letter or in substance, in
part or in full, the following amendments (unless otherwise indicated, the articles referred to are those
of the common position):

No 1 — see the modification to the title of the Directive;

No 2 — see the modifications to recital 2;

No 3 — see the new recital 23;

No 4 — see the modifications to recital 3;

No 5 — see the modifications to recital 5;

No 6 — see the new recital 7;

No 7 — see the modifications to recital 8 (recital 6 in the Commission proposal);

No 8 — see the modifications to recital 9 (recital 7 in the Commission proposal);

No 9 — see the modifications to recital 10 (recital 8 in the Commission proposal);

No 10 — see the modifications to recital 11 (recital 9 in the Commission proposal);

No 11 — see the new recital 12;

No 12 — see the new recital 22;

No 13 — see the new recital 18;

No 14 — see the new recital 19;

No 15 — see the new recital 21;

No 16 — see the modifications to Article 1, paragraph 1;

No 17 — see the modifications to Article 2, paragraph 1, introductory part;

No 18 — see the new recital 6;

No 19 — see the modifications to Article 2, paragraph 2;

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No 20 — see the modifications to Article 2, paragraph 4 (Article 2, paragraph 3, in the Commission
proposal);

No 21 — Article 2, paragraph 4, of the Commission proposal has been deleted;

No 22 — Article 2, paragraph 5, of the Commission proposal has been deleted;

No 25 — see the modifications to Article 2, paragraph 5 (Article 2, paragraph 7, in the Commission
proposal);

No 27 — see the modifications to Article 3, paragraph 2;

No 28 — see the new Article 3, paragraph 3;

No 29 — the amendment could not be accepted, but the words ‘and/or issuers’ have been inserted, see
Article 3, paragraph 4 (Article 3, paragraph 3, in the Commission proposal);

No 32 — see the reformulation of item (i) in the Annex to the Directive (Article 4, paragraph 1, point
(f) in the Commission proposal);

No 33 — see new item (m) in the Annex to the Directive;

No 34 — see the modifications to Article 4, paragraph 3 (Article 4, paragraph 2, in the Commission
proposal);

No 36 — the date for implementation of the Directive has been postponed in line with the amendment
of Parliament, but the Council decided to adopt the general rule of 18 months after the entry into force
of the Directive, see Article 6, first paragraph;

No 39 — the amendment has been taken into account by the new wording in recital 21;

Nos 41 and 45 — see the modifications in Article 1, paragraph 3 (Article 1, second paragraph in the
Commission proposal);

No 44 — see the new Article 1, paragraph 2;

No 46 — see the new Article 2, paragraph 6;

No 47 — see the new recital 13;

No 48 — see the new Article 2, paragraph 3;

No 49 — see the modifications to Article 3, paragraph 1;

No 50 — see the modifications to Article 3, paragraph 4 (Article 3, paragraph 3, in the Commission
proposal); in line with the amendment of Parliament, the Council replaced the fixed dates by which the
European electronic toll service should be offered to customers with dates that are calculated by adding
certain time periods (three years, five years) to the moment at which the decisions on the definition of
the service are taken; by applying three years in respect of lorries, the Council took a slightly different
view from Parliament, which had suggested two years, but with the five years in respect of all other
vehicles the Council and the Parliament are exactly on the same line;

No 51 — see the new Article 4, paragraph 4; while the Council in its general approach stated that the
decisions on the definition of the European electronic toll service should be taken at the latest by
1 January 2006, it finally decided to set this date at 1 July 2006, in order to take account of the
amendment of Parliament which requested 1 January 2007.

III. CONCLUSION

The Council submits that the text of its common position is appropriate and balanced. With respect to
the amendments proposed by the European Parliament in first reading, the Council observes that
almost all amendments have been integrated — to the letter or in spirit, partially or in full — in
the common position. The Council holds therefore that the text of its common position ensures that
the aim sought by the amendments of Parliament is achieved.