Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 251 (2) of the EC Treaty concerning the common position of the Council on the adoption of a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the interoperability of electronic road toll systems in the Community
Date: 2004-03-26
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: common transport policy, road transport, toll, trans-European network

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 26.3.2004 
COM(2004) 222 final 

2003/0081 (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 251 (2) of the EC Treaty 

concerning the 

common position of the Council on the adoption of a Directive of the European 
Parliament and of the Council on the interoperability of electronic road toll systems in 
the Community 

EN 

   EN 

 
 
 
  
 
 
  
  
2003/0081 (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 251 (2) of the EC Treaty 

concerning the 

common position of the Council on the adoption of a Directive of the European 
Parliament and of the Council on the interoperability of electronic road toll systems in 
the Community 

1- 

BACKGROUND 

Date of transmission of the proposal to the EP and the Council 
(document COM(2003) 132 final – 2003/0081(COD)): 

25 April 2003 

Date of the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee: 

29 October 2003 

Date of the opinion of the Committee of the Regions: 

20 November 2003 

Date  of  the  opinion  of  the  European  Parliament  (first  reading) 
delivered on: 

18 December 2003 

Date of transmission of the amended proposal: 

N/A 

Date of adoption by the Council of the common position: 

22 March 2004 

2- 

PURPOSE OF THE COMMISSION'S PROPOSAL 

In  its  White  Paper  on  transport  policy,1  the  Commission  stresses  the  need  for  a  European 
Directive  on  the  interoperability  of  electronic  road  toll  systems  put  in  place  within  the 
Community  and  in  neighbouring  countries.  The  primary  objective  is  to  avoid  major 
difficulties which drivers, and more particularly HGV drivers, are likely to encounter in the 
years to come by virtue of the multiplicity of incompatible national systems, not to mention 
the  risk  of  finding  themselves  in  involuntary  breach  of  the  national  legislation  of  countries 
other than their own. A further objective is to safeguard the proper functioning of the internal 
market by preventing the erection of new technological barriers between Member States. 

To that end, the Commission has presented this proposal for a Directive, which is aimed at: 

–  ensuring interoperability between the various systems, both existing and future, 

–  proposing a single technical solution for future systems, 

1 

Commission White Paper of 12 September 2001: “European transport policy for 2010: time to decide”, 
COM(2001) 370 final. 

2 

 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
–  setting up a European Electronic Road Toll System by 2006.  

3- 

COMMENTS ON THE COMMON POSITION 

The common position includes in the Council’s general approach and in the first reading vote 
in  the  European  Parliament  most  of  the  European  Parliament  and  Council  amendments,  as 
adopted on 5 and 18 December 2003. 

It  differs  from  the  initial  proposal  put  forward  by  the  Commission  in  the  following  two 
respects: 

–  The  common  position  proposes  that  steps  be  taken  to  maintain  the  coexistence  of  the 
5.8 GHz  microwave  technology  alongside  the  satellite  technology,  whereas  the 
Commission’s initial proposal advocated the imposition of satellite technology as a single 
solution for the future. Since the tabling of the original proposal, the position with regard 
to  microwave  technologies  has  been  clarified,  and  the  industry  has  made  significant 
progress  towards  achieving  standardisation  and  guaranteeing  compliance  with  the  Single 
Market’s  rules  on  open  competition.  In  the  light  of  progress  to  date,  this  technology  can 
now be usefully retained.  

–  The  common  position  alters  the  Commission’s  initial  timetable.  It  represents  a 
compromise between Parliament’s position and the position expressed by the majority of 
the  Council.  Henceforth  the  European  Electronic  Road  Toll  System  will  be  deployed  in 
accordance with the following timetable. 

1.  All  the  components  making  up  this  service  will  need  to  be  defined  by  1  July 

2006 (Parliament would have preferred 1 January 2007). 

2. 

3. 

The obligation to provide the service will apply to lorries and coaches no later 
than  three  years  after  the  date  mentioned  in  point  1  below,  i.e.  1  July  2009 
(Parliament  would  have  preferred  a  time  limit  of  two  years  beyond  the  date 
indicated in point 1, i.e. 1 January 2009). 

This obligation will apply to the other types of vehicle five years after the date 
mentioned in point 1, i.e. 1 July 2011 (Parliament would have preferred a time 
limit of five years beyond the date indicated in point 1, i.e. 1 January 2011). 

4- 

CONCLUSIONS 

The  Commission  considers  that  the  common  position  proposed  to  the  Council  on  22 March 
2004  is  faithful  to  the  aims  and  spirit  of  the  Commission’s  proposal.  The  Commission  can 
therefore approve the common position. 

The common position includes, either in letter or spirit, virtually all the amendments adopted 
by the European Parliament at first reading. There is consequently a high level of agreement 
between  the  Council,  Parliament  and  the  Commission  on  the  key  aspects  of  the  proposal. 
These  three  institutions  have  worked  very  actively  throughout  the  procedure  and  have 
ultimately succeeded in producing a text that strikes a very good balance. 

3 

 
 
  
 
Accordingly,  the  Commission  invites  the  European  Parliament  to  approve  the  common 
position. The work which the experts from the Member States and the neighbouring countries 
will need to accomplish in order to set up the European Electronic Road Toll System in the 
context of the Regulatory Committee will take a long time, and it is important for this work to 
be carried out through the Regulatory Committee responsible for governing this sector in the 
years to come. 

4