REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the delegation of power under Directive 2008/68/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 September 2008 on the inland transport of dangerous goods
Date: 2025-10-10
Institutions: Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport, European Commission
Subjects: delegated legislation, inland transport, inland waterway transport, intra-EU transport, powers of the institutions (EU), rail transport, road transport, transfer of competence, transport of dangerous goods, transport safety

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 10.10.2025  COM(2025) 631 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the delegation of power under Directive 2008/68/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 September 2008 on the inland transport of dangerous goods  
 
 
1. 

INTRODUCTION 

Directive 2008/68/EC1 of the European Parliament and of the Council (‘the Directive’) establishes a framework 
for  the  carriage  of  dangerous  good  by  road,  rail  and  inland  waterways  in  the  European  Union. The  Directive 
adopted the specific international legislation and made it mandatory also for national transport operations carried 
out in the EU Member States. The international legislation is adopted and updated under the aegis of the United 
Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the Intergovernmental Organisation for International 
Carriage by Rail (OTIF). 

More specifically, the international legislation consists of: 

• 

• 

the Agreement  concerning  the  International  Carriage  of  Dangerous  Goods  by  Road2  (ADR)  and  the 
European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Inland Waterways3 
(ADN), both adopted under the aegis of UNECE; and  
the Regulation concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Rail4 (RID), adopted under 
the aegis of OTIF.  

These  international  instruments  are  usually  updated  every  second  year  in  line  with  technical  and  scientific 
progress. At  the  same  time,  a  complex  interinstitutional  cooperation  mechanism  ensures  that  the  instruments 
remain harmonised with one another. This facilitates the performance of intermodal operations. 

The Directive endorses these international instruments in its annexes. This provides clarity and legal certainty for 
economic operators and national authorities regarding the single set of rules for both the international and national 
transport of dangerous goods. To be effective, the annexes to the Directive are amended regularly (in principle 
every two years), so that they keep pace with updates to the international instruments. 

Regulation (EU) 2019/12435 of the European Parliament and of the Council amended the Directive to change the 
process by which its annexes are amended. The amended wording of Article 8(1) of the Directive reads as follows:  

The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 8a amending the Annexes in 
order to take account of amendments to the ADR, RID and ADN, in particular those relating to scientific and 
technical progress, including the use of technologies for tracking and tracing. 

In connection with this empowerment, under the Directive’s Article 8a(2) the Commission is required to report to 
Parliament and the Council on the delegation of powers conferred on it by the Directive, ensuring transparency 
and accountability in the exercise of its delegated powers. 

2. 

EXERCISE OF THE POWER TO ADOPT DELEGATED ACTS 

2.1. Delegated acts adopted 

Since the entry into force of Article 8(1) of the Directive in its current form, the Commission has exercised the 
power  to  adopt  delegated  acts  referred  to  in Article 8  on  three  occasions,  by  adopting Commission  Delegated 
Directives (EU) 2020/18336, (EU) 2022/24077 and (EU) 2025/1498. The purpose of these Commission Delegated 
Directives is to update the annexes to the Directive in line with scientific and technical progress, by taking into 
account the amendments to the ADR, RID and ADN. 

2.2. Consultation of the Member States 

1 Directive 2008/68/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 September 2008 on the inland transport of dangerous goods (OJ 
L 260 30.9.2008, p. 13), ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2008/68/oj. 
2 The full text is available on the UNECE website. 
3 The full text is available on the UNECE website. 
4 The full text is available on the OTIF website, 
5 Regulation (EU) 2019/1243 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 adapting a number of legal acts providing for 
the use of the regulatory procedure with scrutiny to Articles 290 and 291 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (OJ L 198, 
25.7.2019, p. 241), ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2019/1243/oj. 
6 OJ L 408, 4.12.2020, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir_del/2020/1833/oj. 
7 OJ L 317, 9.12.2022, p. 64, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir_del/2022/2407/oj. 
8 OJ L, 2025/149, 24.1.2025, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir_del/2025/149/oj. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
EU Member State experts were involved in preparing the adoption of these Commission Delegated Directives in 
three stages. 

Firstly, as Contracting Parties and Contracting States to the ADR, ADN and RID, the Member States were involved 
in  the  technical  process  of  drafting,  presenting,  debating  and  voting  on  the  amendments  to  the  international 
agreements. 

Secondly,  as  members  of  the  EU  Council,  the  Member  States  were  consulted  on  the  adoption  of  the  Council 
Decisions establishing the position to be taken on the final text of the amended ADR, ADN and RID to be adopted 
by UNECE and OTIF. This second stage was meant to confirm that the amendments to the ADR, ADN and RID 
were appropriate, with a view to their being adopted in the EU acquis as annexes to the Directive. 

Thirdly, in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better 
Law-Making9, the Commission consulted the Member State experts appointed to the Expert Group on Transport 
of  Dangerous  Goods  on  the  Commission’s  proposals  to  amend  the  annexes  to  the  Directive  by  adopting 
Commission Delegated Directives. 

3. 

CONCLUSIONS 

The delegated powers granted to the Commission under Article 8(1) of the Directive are likely to be used again: 
at the end of 2026, they will be required for the Commission to adopt a new Commission delegated directive to 
update the Directive’s annexes in line with scientific and technical progress. This will align the annexes with the 
2027 editions of the ADR, ADN and RID. 

In accordance with Article 8a(2) of the Directive, the Commission will again prepare a report on delegated powers 
before the end of the next five-year period. 

The Commission invites the European Parliament and the Council to take note of this report. 

9 OJ L 123, 12.5.2016, p. 1.