Directive 2004/52/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the interoperability of electronic road toll systems in the Community (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2004-04-29
Institutions: Council of the European Union, European Parliament
Subjects: electronic equipment, electronic money, technical standard, toll, trans-European network

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DIRECTIVE 2004/52/EC 

OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

of  29 April 2004 

on the interoperability of electronic road toll systems 

in the Community 

(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 7(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 the Committee of the Regions 2, 

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

1 
2 
3  

OJ C 32, 5.2.2004, p. 36. 
OJ C 73, 23.3.2004, p. 54. 
Opinion of the European Parliament of 18 December 2003 (not yet published in the Official 
Journal), Council Common Position of 22 March 2004 (OJ C 95 E, 20.4.2004, p. 53) and 
Position of the European Parliament of 20 April 2004. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
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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) 1, 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 electronic 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 technology and frequencies close to 5,8 GHz, but 

these systems are currently not totally compatible.  The work on microwave technology 

undertaken by the European 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. 

1 

OJ C 194, 25.6.1997, p. 5. 

 
 
 
 
                                                 
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 (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 positioning technology, 

mobile communications technology using the GSM-GPRS standard and 5,8 GHz microwave 

technology. 

(4) 

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 

technologies, in order to avoid further fragmentation of the market. 

(5) 

It is necessary to provide for the widespread deployment of electronic toll systems in the 

Member States and neighbouring countries, and the need is arising to have interoperable 

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. 

 
 
 
 
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(7) 

In introducing new electronic toll systems, sufficient equipment should be made available to 

avoid discrimination between the undertakings concerned. 

(8) 

In particular, owing to their great flexibility and versatility, application of the new satellite 

positioning (GNSS) and mobile communications (GSM/GPRS) technologies to electronic 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 geostationary 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 technologies is in principle 

to be recommended in introducing new electronic toll systems. 

 
 
 
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(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 the Member States 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. 

(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 for all types of vehicles at local, national or international level.  The equipment 

installed 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.  

 
 
 
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(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 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 interoperability 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 rules allowing all operators and/or issuers to provide the 

service, giving access to the whole network; 

(b) 

a set of technical standards and requirements allowing the industry to provide the 

necessary equipment for the provision of the service. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
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(14)  Contractual interoperability provides the potential for important facilitation to some 

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

(15)  Electronic toll systems contribute significantly to reducing the risk of accidents, thus 

increasing road safety, to reducing the number of cash transactions and to reducing congestion 

at toll plazas, especially on busy days.  They also reduce the negative environmental impact of 

waiting and restarting vehicles and congestion, as well as the environmental impact related to 

the installation of new toll gates or expansion of existing toll stations. 

(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. 

(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 inter alia in 

Directive 95/46/EC of 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 electronic 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. 

1  

2  

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

 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
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(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-discriminatory service charges. 

(19)  Systems of electronic toll collection which are put in place in the Member States should meet 

the following fundamental criteria: the system should be amenable to ready incorporation of 

future technological and systems improvements and developments without costly 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 implementation in any Member State should be non-discriminatory in all 

respects between domestic road users and road users from other Member States. 

(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 proportionality as set out in that Article, this Directive does 

not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve those objectives. 

 
 
 
 
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(21)  The inclusion of interested parties (such as toll-service operators, infrastructure managers, 

electronics and motor industries and users) in Commission consultations on technical and 

contractual aspects of creating the 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. 

(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 
for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission 1,  

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE: 

Article 1 

Objective and scope 

1.   This Directive lays down the conditions necessary to 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. 

1 

OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
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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 installation 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  

1.   All new electronic toll systems brought into service on or after 1 January 2007 shall, for 

carrying out electronic toll transactions, use one or more of the following technologies: 

(a) 

satellite positioning; 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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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 

2.   The European electronic toll service shall be brought into 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 of the technologies listed in 

paragraph 1.  The detailed arrangements in this respect 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.  

3.   It is recommended that new electronic toll systems brought into service after the adoption of this 

Directive use the satellite positioning and mobile communications technologies listed in 

paragraph 1.  In respect of 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 cost-benefit analysis.  If appropriate, the 

Commission shall accompany the report with a proposal to the European Parliament and the 

Council for a migration strategy.   

 
 
            
 
 
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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.  

6.   Interoperability work on existing toll technologies undertaken in connection with the European 

electronic toll service shall ensure the full compatibility and interfacing of those technologies with 

the technologies referred to in paragraph 1 and of their equipment with each other. 

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. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Article 3 

Setting-up of a European electronic toll service 

1.   A European electronic toll service shall be set up which encompasses all the  road network in 

the Community on which tolls or road usage fees are collected electronically.  This electronic toll 

service will be defined by a contractual set of rules allowing all operators and/or issuers to provide 

the service, a set of technical standards and requirements and a single 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. 

2.   The European electronic toll service shall be independent 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. 

3.   The system shall allow intermodality to develop without creating disadvantages for   other 

modes of transport. 

 
 
 
 
 
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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. 

Article 4 

Features of the European electronic toll service 

1.   The European electronic toll service shall be based on the items listed in the Annex to this 

Directive.  

2.   Where appropriate, this Annex may be modified for technical reasons in accordance with the 

procedure referred to in Article 5(2).  

3.   The European electronic toll service shall employ the technological solutions referred to in 

Article 2, using specifications which shall be publicly available. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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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.  

6.   Technical decisions relating to the realisation of the European electronic toll service shall be 

taken by the Commission in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 5(2).    

7.   The Commission shall ask the relevant standardisation bodies, in particular the CEN, 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 
technical standards and regulations 1, to make every necessary effort rapidly to adopt standards 

applicable to electronic toll systems with regard to the technologies listed in Article 2(1). 

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 terminal equipment and the mutual 
recognition of their conformity 2 and Council Directive 89/336/EEC of 3 May 1989 on the 
approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to electromagnetic compatibility 3. 

1  
2  
3  

OJ L 204, 21.7.1998, p. 37.  Directive as last amended by the 2003 Act of Accession. 
OJ L 91, 7.4.1999, p. 10.  Directive as amended by Regulation (EC) No 1882/2003. 
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). 

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
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Article 5 

Committee procedure 

1.   The Commission shall be assisted by an Electronic Toll Committee (hereinafter "the 

Committee"). 

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. 

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. 

*  

18 months after the date of entry into force of the Directive. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
 
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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 Strasbourg, 29 April 2004.  

  For the European Parliament 

The President 

P. COX 

For the Council 

The President 

M. McDOWELL 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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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, certification procedures and constraints to be observed; 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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(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; 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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(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.