Whereas Council Directive 85/3/EEC of 19 December 1984 on the weights, dimensions and certain other technical characteristics of certain road vehicles4 established, in the framework of the common transport policy, common standards permitting improved use of road vehicles in traffic between Member States;

Whereas Directive 85/3/EEC has been significantly amended on many occasions; whereas on the occasion of its further amendment it should for reasons of clarity and rationality be recast in a single text together with Council Directive 86/364/EEC of 24 July 1986 relating to proof of compliance of vehicles with Directive 85/3/EEC5;

Whereas differences between standards in force in the Member States with regard to the weights and dimensions of commercial road vehicles could have an adverse effect on the conditions of competition and constitute an obstacle to traffic between Member States;

Whereas, under the principle of subsidiarity, action should be taken at Community level in order to remove this obstacle;

Whereas the abovementioned standards reflect a balance between the rational and economical use of commercial road vehicles and the requirements of infrastructure maintenance, road safety and the protection of the environment and the fabric of live;

Whereas common standards on the dimensions of vehicles intended for the carriage of goods should remain stable in the long term;

Whereas additional technical requirements related to the weights and dimensions of vehicles may apply to commercial vehicles registered or put into circulation in a Member State; whereas these requirements must not constitute an obstacle to the circulation of commercial vehicles between Member States;

Whereas the definition of ‘thick-walled refrigerated vehicle’ in Article 2 of Directive 85/3/EEC, as amended by Directive 89/388/EEC6, should be broadened in order to permit Member States to allow refrigerated vehicles no longer meeting the insulation requirements defined in that Article to circulate in their territory;

Whereas it is necessary to clarify the concept of ‘indivisible load’ in order to ensure uniform application of this Directive in respect of permits for vehicles or vehicle combinations carrying such loads;

Whereas the tonne is universally used and understood as the unit of measurement for vehicle weight and is, therefore, applied in this Directive whilst recognizing that the formal unit of weight is the newton;

Whereas, in implementation of the internal market, the scope of this Directive should be extended to national transport insofar as it concerns characteristics that significantly affect the conditions of competition in the transport sector and in particular the values relating to the maximum authorized length and width of vehicles and vehicle combinations intended for the carriage of goods;

Whereas, for the other vehicle characteristics, Member States are authorized to apply in their territory different values from those laid down in this Directive only to vehicles used in national traffic;

Whereas road trains using extensible coupling systems in practice attain a maximum length of 18,75 m when fully extended; whereas the same maximum length should be authorized for road trains using fixed coupling systems;

Whereas the maximum authorized width of 2,50 m for vehicles intended for the carriage of goods can leave insufficient internal space for the efficient loading of pallets, which has given rise to the application of different tolerances beyond that level in the legislation of the Member States concerning domestic traffic; whereas a general adaptation to the current situation is therefore necessary in order to provide for clarity in technical requirements, bearing in mind the road safety aspects of these characteristics;

Whereas if the maximum width of vehicles intended for the carriage of goods is increased to 2,55 m, that standard should also be applied to buses; whereas, in respect of buses, it is however necessary to provide for a transitional period to allow the manufacturers concerned to adapt industrial plant;

Whereas, to prevent excessive road damage and to ensure manoeuvrability, when authorizing and using vehicles preference should be given to pneumatic or equivalent suspension rather than mechanical suspension; whereas certain maximum axle loads should not be exceeded, and the vehicle must be capable of turning through 360° within certain limit values for the path followed;

Whereas Member States should be permitted, in national goods transport, to allow vehicles or vehicle combinations with dimensions deviating from those laid down in this Directive to circulate in their territory if the transport operations carried out by such vehicles are defined by this Directive as not significantly affecting international competition in the transport sector, i.e. operations carried out by specialized vehicles and operations carried out according to a modular concept;

Whereas, in the case of modular concept operations, there should be provision for a transitional period to enable a Member State to adapt its road infrastructure;

Whereas vehicles or vehicle combinations constructed applying new technologies or new concepts, according to standards which deviate from those laid down by this Directive, should be allowed to carry out local transport operations for a trial period to enable profit to be drawn from technical progress;

Whereas vehicles which entered into service before the date of implementation of this Directive and which do not comply with the dimension characteristics laid down in this Directive, owing to previously differing national provisions or methods of measurement, should be allowed for a transitional period to continue to provide transport services within the Member State in which the vehicle is registered or put into circulation;

Whereas progress has been made towards adopting Type-Approval Directives for vehicle combinations with five or six axles; whereas, the requirements regarding conformity with characteristics other than weights and dimensions as laid down in Annex II of Directive 85/3/EEC should therefore be deleted;

Whereas such a modification is also necessary in order to avoid rules conflicting with international conventions on road traffic and circulation;

Whereas in order to facilitate the monitoring of compliance with this Directive, it is necessary to ensure that vehicles carry proof of such compliance;

Whereas this Directive does not affect the obligations of the Member States concerning the deadlines for transposition into national law and for application of the Directives which this Directive replaces,