Member States' ambassadors to the European Union ('Coreper') adopted on Wednesday 30 January their negotiating position on the time limit for the implementation of the special rules regarding maximum length of truck cabs, in order to improve their aerodynamic performance, safety performance and energy efficiency.
This position echoes the European Commission's proposal for a decision on 17 May last to accelerate the deployment of lorries equipped with elongated cabs (see EUROPE 12022).
The aim here is to revise Directive 96/53/EC on maximum authorised dimensions in national and international traffic and maximum authorised weights in international traffic. This has already been amended by Directive 2015/719/EU to allow trucks equipped with elongated cabs to be exempt from the maximum lengths set by EU law. This is being done from a road safety and energy efficiency perspective, among other things.
However, this latter Directive does not allow the introduction of such cabs until three years after the entry into force of technical provisions on the type-approval of vehicles. These latter provisions, which are to be the subject of an implementing act by the Commission, have not yet entered into force, as the technical work is still in progress.
For this reason, the Commission has proposed to abolish this three-year moratorium and shorten it to four months after the entry into force of the proposed text.
The States hope that the technical provisions relating to the type-approval of vehicles will enter into force three months after the entry into force of this decision. The moratorium would then last for 15 months after the entry into force of these technical provisions to allow for the application of the exemption on maximum length for trucks equipped with elongated cabs.
Interinstitutional negotiations ('trilogues') with representatives of the European Parliament will now begin, as MEPs voted on the issue on 22 January (see EUROPE 12177). They are of the opinion that these exemptions for elongated cabs should be applied six months after the entry into force of the proposed decision. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)