Legal acts: 
Directive (EU) 2019/520
Decision 2009/750/EC
Directive 2004/52/EC until 19/10/2021

Parts of Directive 2004/52/EC that remain active:
Directive (EU) 2019/520, Article 33 - Repeal

Consolidated act:
29/03/2019 of Directive (EU) 2019/520 (Language available: FI)

13/10/2009 of Decision 2009/750/EC (Languages available: FR, IT, HU, MT)

20/04/2009 of Directive 2004/52/EC

Directive (EU) 2019/520

Subject matter and scope

1. This Directive lays down the conditions necessary for the following purposes:
   1. to ensure the interoperability of electronic road toll systems on the entire Union road network, urban and interurban motorways, major and minor roads, and various structures, such as tunnels or bridges, and ferries; and
   2. to facilitate the cross-border exchange of vehicle registration data regarding the vehicles and the owners or holders of vehicles for which there was a failure to pay road fees of any kind in the Union.

In order to respect the principle of subsidiarity, this Directive shall apply without prejudice to the decisions taken by Member States to levy road fees on particular types of vehicles, and to determine the level of those fees and the purpose for which such fees are levied.

2. Articles 3 to 22 do not apply to:
   1. road toll systems which are not electronic within the meaning of point 10 of Article 2; and
   2. small, strictly local road toll systems for which the costs of compliance with the requirements of Articles 3 to 22 would be disproportionate to the benefits.
3. This Directive does not apply to parking fees.
4. The objective of the interoperability of electronic road toll systems in the Union shall be achieved by means of the European Electronic Toll Service (EETS) which shall be complementary to the national electronic toll services of the Member States.
5. Where the national law requires a notification to the user of the obligation to pay before a failure to pay a road fee can be established, Member States may also apply this Directive to identify the owner or the holder of the vehicle and the vehicle itself for notification purposes, only if all the following conditions are fulfilled:
   1. there are no other means to identify the owner or holder of the vehicle; and
   2. the notification to the owner or holder of the vehicle of the obligation to pay is a compulsory stage of the road fee payment procedure under national law.
6. Where a Member State applies paragraph 5, it shall take the measures necessary to ensure that any follow-up proceedings in relation to the obligation to pay the road fee are pursued by public authorities. References to failure to pay a road fee in this Directive shall include cases covered by paragraph 5 if the Member State where the failure to pay takes place, applies that paragraph.

Article 15 - Interoperability constituents

3. Member States shall not prohibit, restrict or hinder the placing on the market of interoperability constituents for use in EETS where they bear the CE marking or either a declaration of conformity to specifications or a declaration of suitability for use, or both. In particular, Member States shall not require checks which have already been carried out as part of the procedure for checking conformity to specifications or suitability for use, or both.

Article 16 - Safeguard procedure

1. Where a Member State has reason to believe that interoperability constituents bearing a CE marking and placed on the market are unlikely, when used as intended, to meet the relevant requirements, it shall take all necessary steps to restrict their field of application, prohibit their use or withdraw them from the market. The Member State shall immediately inform the Commission of the measures taken and give the reasons for its decision, stating in particular whether failure to conform is due to:
   1. incorrect application of technical specifications; or
   2. inadequacy of technical specifications.
2. The Commission shall consult the concerned Member State, manufacturer, EETS provider or their authorised representatives established within the Union as quickly as possible. Where, following that consultation, the Commission establishes that the measure is justified, it shall immediately inform the Member State concerned as well as the other Member States. However, where, following that consultation, the Commission establishes that the measure is unjustified, it shall immediately inform the Member State concerned, as well as the manufacturer or its authorised representative established within the Union and the other Member States.
3. Where interoperability constituents bearing the CE marking fail to comply with interoperability requirements, the competent Member State shall require the manufacturer or its authorised representative established in the Union to restore the interoperability constituent to a state of conformity to specifications or suitability for use, or both, under the conditions laid down by that Member State and shall inform the Commission and the other Member States thereof.