EU ambassadors have reached a political agreement on the revised Weights and Dimensions Directive — an important and long-awaited step toward more efficient, sustainable, and zero-emission road transport.
Shippers have repeatedly emphasised in recent ESC Road Council meetings that updating these rules is essential to ensure efficient transport operations, improve sustainability, and address the driver shortage. For this reason, ESC welcomes the agreement reached by EU ambassadors on the Danish Presidency’s revised compromise text. After years of challenging negotiations, this breakthrough at Coreper level demonstrates that Member States are finally ready to move forward.
The compromise text includes several key measures long requested by shippers to enhance efficiency, competitiveness, and environmental performance, while supporting the uptake of new technologies, such as:
• Better conditions for intermodal and cross-border transport, including the ability to operate higher weights for cross-border flows when using zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) or intermodal solutions.
• A clearer, more consistent framework for the European Modular System, enabling higher transport efficiency and energy savings where infrastructure permits.
• A new crisis-response clause, offering temporary flexibility in emergencies to safeguard essential supply chains.
These improvements will strengthen the resilience, sustainability, and modernisation of road transport – helping the EU to meet its climate objectives while maintaining the vital role of road freight within logistics chains.
The agreement now moves to EU transport ministers for the formal adoption of the Council’s General Approach. This step will pave the way for negotiations with the European Parliament, which adopted its position last year.
ESC urges that trilogue negotiations start without delay.