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1. Member States may, in accordance with the requirements set out in Annex V, introduce a congestion charge on any section of their road network which is affected by congestion. The congestion charge may only be applied on those road sections which are regularly congested and only during the periods when they are typically congested.

2. Member States shall specify the road sections and time periods referred to in paragraph 1 based on objective criteria related to the level to which the roads and their vicinities are affected by congestion, measured, inter alia, in terms of average delays or queue lengths.

3. A congestion charge imposed on any section of the road network shall apply in a non-discriminatory manner to all vehicle categories, in accordance with the standard equivalence factors set out in Annex V. Member States may, however, exempt, partially or fully, minibuses, buses and coaches from congestion charge for the promotion of collective transport and socioeconomic development and territorial cohesion. Motor caravans, irrespective of their technically permissible maximum laden mass, shall not be treated as coaches and buses for the purpose of this paragraph.

4. The congestion charge shall be set in accordance with the minimum requirements referred to in Annex V. It shall reflect the costs imposed by a vehicle on other road users, and indirectly on society, and shall respect the reference values set out in Annex VI for any given road type. Where a Member State intends to apply congestion charges higher than the reference values set out in Annex VI, it shall notify the Commission in accordance with the requirements referred to in Annex V. Revenues generated from congestion charges, or the equivalent in financial value of those revenues, shall be used to address the problem of congestion, or to develop sustainable transport and mobility in general. Where such revenues are allocated to the general budget, a Member State shall be deemed to have applied the second subparagraph, if it implements financial support policies to address the problem of congestion or to develop sustainable transport and mobility which have a value equivalent to the revenues generated from congestion charges.

5. Member States shall put in place adequate mechanisms for monitoring the impact of congestion charges and for reviewing the level thereof. Each Member State shall review the level of charges regularly, at least every three years, to ensure that they do not exceed the costs of the congestion occurring in that Member State on the road sections subject to the congestion charge.