C1: over 3,500 kg and up to 7,500 kg. From age 18.
C: anything over 3,500 kg, no upper limit. From age 21, or 18 with a driver CPC.
Trailer: up to 750 kg on either. More than that needs CE or C1E.
The line sits at 7,500 kg, and nowhere else
C1 and C start at the same point. Both cover vehicles over 3,500 kg, and both are meant for goods, not buses. The only real difference is that C1 has a ceiling and C doesn't.
The directive puts it this way for C1:
motor vehicles other than those in categories D1 or D, the maximum authorised mass of which exceeds 3 500 kg, but does not exceed 7 500 kg, and which are designed and constructed for the carriage of no more than eight passengers in addition to the driver; motor vehicles in this category may be combined with a trailer having a maximum authorised mass not exceeding 750 kg.
Directive 2006/126/EC, Article 4(4)(d). Accessed 26 August 2026.
And for C:
motor vehicles other than those in categories D1 or D, whose maximum authorised mass is over 3 500 kg and which are designed and constructed for the carriage of no more than eight passengers in addition to the driver; motor vehicles in this category may be combined with a trailer having a maximum authorised mass which does not exceed 750 kg.
Directive 2006/126/EC, Article 4(4)(f).
Put those side by side and they're word for word the same, with one exception: but does not exceed 7 500 kg. That's the entire difference.
Watch which weight is meant
It says maximum authorised mass, not what you happen to weigh in that moment. It's what's registered as the maximum, not what the weighbridge shows. A box truck with a maximum authorised mass of 7,490 kg stays C1, even running empty. A vehicle registered at 7,510 kg falls outside C1, even carrying nothing.
That distinction costs people a fine regularly, because the temptation is to look at the load rather than the registration document.
Three years' difference in age, and a real shortcut
For C1 and C1E the floor is eighteen. For C and CE the directive sets a different baseline:
the minimum age for categories C and CE is fixed at 21 years.
Directive 2006/126/EC, Article 4(4)(g).
But that isn't the whole story. A separate paragraph of the same article carves out a derogation for anyone holding a driver CPC:
By way of derogation from the minimum ages laid down in points (g), (i) and (k) of paragraph 4 of this Article, the minimum age for issuing a driving licence in categories C and CE; D1 and D1E; and D and DE respectively shall be the minimum age prescribed for the driving of such vehicles for holders of a CPC laid down in Article 5(2), the first paragraph of Article 5(3)(a)(i), the first paragraph of Article 5(3)(a)(ii) or point (b) of Article 5(3) of Directive 2003/59/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as applicable.
Directive 2006/126/EC, Article 4(7). The reference to Directive 2003/59/EC is outdated wording in the consolidated text: that directive was repealed and replaced by Directive (EU) 2022/2561, but the rule it points to still stands.
In plain terms: with the driver CPC in hand, that minimum age drops to 18. That's the route covered in full in becoming a truck driver, and it's precisely why plenty of eighteen-year-olds are already driving a full combination.
Why eight passengers turns up in a goods category
Both definitions say designed and constructed for the carriage of no more than eight passengers in addition to the driver. That looks odd in a goods category, but it's the boundary against the bus categories D and D1. The moment a vehicle is built for more than eight passengers, it moves to D, however heavy it is.
For a crane truck, a box van or a tractor unit it makes no difference. For a converted vehicle with a lot of seating, it does.
The 750 kg that comes with both
Both C1 and C allow a trailer up to 750 kg maximum authorised mass. That's a small box trailer, not a semi-trailer. Anything above that needs a separate category: C1E if you drive on C1, CE if you drive on C.
C1E has a ceiling of its own that people often miss: the whole combination may weigh no more than 12,000 kg. CE has no such limit.
What's changing, and what isn't
On 22 October 2025, Directive (EU) 2025/2205 was adopted. It replaces Directive 2006/126/EC and is the first major overhaul of the European driving licence since 2006.
What matters for you today: a directive doesn't take direct effect. Member States first have to transpose it into national law, and that has years to run. Until that happens, what you read above stays in force, in the national form your country gave to Directive 2006/126/EC.
If you come across a page presenting the new rules as already in force, that's incorrect. And if you find one still citing Directive 2003/59/EC for the driver CPC, it's quoting a text that no longer exists.
Also read
Sources
- Directive 2006/126/EC on driving licences, Article 4(4) and Article 4(7), consolidated version of 1 November 2020. EUR-Lex
- Directive (EU) 2022/2561, Article 5, for the current driver CPC minimum-age route. EUR-Lex
Legal text quoted verbatim from the consolidated/official English versions on EUR-Lex, accessed 26 August 2026.
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