The European Parliament adopted by 339 votes to 240, with 37 abstentions, a legislative resolution on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on driving licences, amending Directive (EU) 2022/2561 of the European Parliament and of the Council, Regulation (EU) 2018/1724 of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Directive 2006/126/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Commission Regulation (EU) No 383/2012.

The European Parliament's position adopted at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure amends the Commission's proposal as follows:

Physical driving licences and mobile driving licences

Members suggested that no later than four years after the date of adoption, applicants should be issued with both a mobile driving licence and a physical driving licence by default.

Member States should ensure that by 19 January 2033 (instead of 2030), all physical driving licences issued or in circulation fulfil all the requirements of this Directive.

Those electronic applications should be based on the European Digital Identity Wallets issued in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and an appropriate level of security of these applications should be ensured.

Personal data should be processed by implementing the principles of ‘data minimisation’, ‘purpose limitation’ and ‘data protection by design and by default’, in particular with regard to technical measures.

The Commission should provide assistance to Member States who should work together in pursuit of the worldwide use and recognition of the European mobile driving licence.

Minimum age

Members agree to allow 18-year-olds to obtain a licence to drive a truck or a bus with up to 16 passengers, provided they hold a certificate of professional competence (CPC). The age limit would be 21 for buses with no passenger limit for professional drivers using their national and international driving licences, provided they hold a CAP. In addition, 17-year-olds could also be eligible for a driving licence for trucks if accompanied by an experienced driver.

Any Member State may lower the minimum age for categories D and DE for professional bus and coach drivers to 19 years on their territory, provided that drivers have undergone a full professional training and are holders of CPC (18 years old if they drive such vehicles without passengers).

Novice drivers

Members considered that for novice drivers, a probationary period of at least two years should be established. In case a novice driver already has a valid driving licence for another category, the probationary period should only include what may remain of the probationary period of the existing driving licence, yet it should not be shorter than 6 months.

During that period drivers should be subjected to stricter rules and penalties Union-wide when breaking them, for example, due to the influence of alcohol or drugs, speeding, using unauthorised vehicles, failing to use safety equipment, or driving without a valid driving licence. Member States should lay down rules on penalties for novice drivers who drive with a blood alcohol level exceeding 0.2g /mL or under the influence of psychotropic substances or narcotics. The enforcement authorities of Member States should establish a technical zero tolerance threshold for their effective measurements, which should not be higher than 0.2 g/mL, in order to take into account accidental exposure to alcohol.

Member States should establish an obligation for novice drivers to display a standard Union disk on the back windscreen of their vehicle during the whole length of their probationary period.

Issue, validity and renewal

Members were not favourable to the measure providing that Member States should reduce the periods of administrative validity to five years or less for driving licences of holders residing on their territory having reached the age of 70.

Parliament accepted that drivers assessing their own fitness to drive when a driving licence is being issued and renewed, letting EU countries decide if the self-assessment should be replaced by a medical examination with a minimum set of checks on drivers’ eyesight.

Member States should:

- establish evidence-based guidelines for General Practitioners and family doctors to identify those who may be at risk of driving a car, and shall operate in coordination with licencing authorities;

- develop national sensibility campaigns to raise awareness among the general public about mental or physical signals that may put a person at risk of driving a vehicle.

The European Commission should, based on expert advice, develop an online training course for general practitioners allowing them to assess all aspects of an applicant's fitness to drive.

Interim driving licence

Members introduced a new article stipulating that during the replacement, renewal or exchange of a driving licence, the Member State performing the replacement, renewal or exchange should issue an interim driving licence in a form of a certificate. Such certificates should be mutually recognised by Member States.

Exchange of driving licence issued by a third country

A certificate of professional competence (CPC), or an equivalent certificate, issued by a third country may be replaced by a new CPC issued by a Member State where the holder has completed in that Member State additional competence training of up to 35 hours.

Up to date skills

Members back a proposal to adapt driver training and testing to better prepare drivers for real driving situations and develop their risk awareness, in particular to vulnerable users such as pedestrians, cyclist, and users of e-scooters and e-bikes.

Safe phone usage while driving, driving in snow and slippery conditions, blind spot risks, driver-assistance systems, and vehicle use in relation to the environment and emissions should also be part of driver tests.

Platform for cooperation

The Commission should establish a platform for cooperation by inviting national authorities and the relevant stakeholders with the view to aggregate, process and disseminate knowledge and information on best practices for drivers of special use vehicles such as Non Road Mobile Machinery (NRMM) in all Member States.

The Committee on Transport and Tourism adopted the report by Karima DELLI (Greens/EFA, FR) on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on driving licences, amending Directive (EU) 2022/2561 of the European Parliament and of the Council, Regulation (EU) 2018/1724 of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Directive 2006/126/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Commission Regulation (EU) No 383/2012.

The committee responsible recommended that the European Parliament's position adopted at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure should amend the proposal as follows:

Subject matter

The proposed directive lays down common rules on: (a) the models, standards and categories of driving licences; (b) the issuance, validity, renewal, and mutual recognition of driving licences; (c) certain aspects of the exchange, replacement, withdrawal, restriction, suspension and cancelation of driving licences; (d) certain aspects applicable to novice drivers.

Physical driving licences and mobile driving licences

Members suggested that no later than four years after the date of adoption, applicants should be issued with both a mobile driving licence and a physical driving licence by default.

Member States should ensure that by 19 January 2033 (instead of 2030), all physical driving licences issued or in circulation fulfil all the requirements of this Directive.

Those electronic applications should be based on the European Digital Identity Wallets issued in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and an appropriate level of security of these applications should be ensured.

Personal data should be processed by implementing the principles of ‘data minimisation’, ‘purpose limitation’ and ‘data protection by design and by default’, in particular with regard to technical measures.

The Commission should provide assistance to Member States who should work together in pursuit of the worldwide use and recognition of the European mobile driving licence.

Licence categories

The report specifies that driving licences must authorise the driving of category T motor vehicles (wheeled tractors).

Minimum age

Members agree to allow 18-year-olds to obtain a licence to drive a truck or a bus with up to 16 passengers, provided they hold a certificate of professional competence. If they do not, the age limit is raised to 21. In addition, 17-year-olds could also be eligible for a driving licence for trucks if accompanied by an experienced driver.

Any Member State may lower the minimum age for categories D and DE for professional bus and coach drivers to 19 years on their territory, provided that drivers have undergone a full professional training and are holders of CPC (18 years old if they drive such vehicles without passengers).

Novice drivers

Members considered that for novice drivers, a probationary period of at least two years should be established. In case a novice driver already has a valid driving licence for another category, the probationary period should only include what may remain of the probationary period of the existing driving licence, yet it should not be shorter than 6 months.

During that period drivers should be subjected to stricter rules and penalties Union-wide when breaking them, for example, due to the influence of alcohol or drugs, speeding, using unauthorised vehicles, failing to use safety equipment, or driving without a valid driving licence. Enforcement authorities might need to establish a technical zero tolerance threshold for their effective measurements, which should not be higher than 0.2 g/mL , in order to take into account accidental exposure to alcohol.

Issue, validity and renewal

When issuing or renewing driving licences in categories AM, A, A1, A2, B, B1 and BE, Member States should require an examination applying the minimum standards of physical and mental fitness for driving set out in Annex III via reasoned medical opinion from a medical authority whose competence is relevant to the complexity of one or more of the possible incapacities mentioned in Annex III from which the driver may be suffering in addition to the self-assessment laid down in that Annex.

Member States should:

- establish evidence-based guidelines for General Practitioners and family doctors to identify those who may be at risk of driving a car, and shall operate in coordination with licencing authorities;

- develop national sensibility campaigns to raise awareness among the general public about mental or physical signals that may put a person at risk of driving a vehicle.

The European Commission should, based on expert advice, develop an online training course for general practitioners allowing them to assess all aspects of an applicant's fitness to drive.

Up to date skills

Members back a proposal to adapt driver training and testing to better prepare drivers for real driving situations and develop their risk awareness, in particular to vulnerable users such as pedestrians, cyclist, and users of e-scooters and e-bikes.

Safe phone usage while driving, driving in snow and slippery conditions, blind spot risks, driver-assistance systems, and vehicle use in relation to the environment and emissions should also be part of driver tests.

PURPOSE: to revise the EU rules on driving licences.

PROPOSED ACT: Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council.

ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council.

BACKGROUND: road safety in the EU has improved quite significantly over the last 20 years. The number of road fatalities has gone down by 61.5% from around 51 400 in 2001 to around 19 800 in 2021. However, the improvement in road safety has not been as strong as needed.

The rules on driving licences are essential elements of the common transport policy, contribute to improving road safety, and facilitate the free movement of persons taking up residence in a Member State other than the one issuing the licence. However, the current framework should be updated to be fit for the new era, sustainable, inclusive, smart and resilient. It is important to simplify and digitise administrative procedures, in order to remove the remaining barriers, such as administrative burdens, to the free movement of the drivers taking up residence in a Member State other than the one issuing the licence.

A harmonised Union standard driving licence framework should encompass both physical and mobile driving licences, and provide for their mutual recognition, where they were duly issued in accordance with this Directive.

This proposal constitutes the third revision of the rules on driving licences first introduced in 1980 by Directive 80/1263/EEC, followed by the second driving licence Directive 91/439/EEC and the third driving licence Directive 2006/126/EC.

It forms part of a package that concerns the revision of two other related directives:

- Directive (EU) 2015/413 facilitating cross-border exchange of information on road-safety-related traffic offences; and

- a proposal for a Directive on the Union-wide effect of certain driving disqualifications .

CONTENT: the Commission proposal aims to improve road safety and facilitate the free movement of people in the European Union while also contributing to sustainable road transport and to its digital transformation by:

- improving driving skills, knowledge and experience, and reduce and punish dangerous behaviour;

- ensuring adequate physical and mental fitness of drivers across the EU;

- removing inadequate or unnecessary barriers affecting applicants and holders of driving licences.

The revised rules give special attention to the road safety needs of all groups of society, notably vulnerable road users like pedestrians, cyclists, users of powered two-wheeled vehicles, users of personal mobility devices and persons with disabilities or reduced mobility and orientation.

The proposal does not apply to power-driven vehicles running on wheels or tracks, having at least two axles, the principal function of which lies in their tractive power, which are specially designed to pull, push, carry or operate certain tools, machines or trailers used in connection with agricultural or forestry operations, and the use of which for carrying persons or goods by road or drawing, on the road, vehicles used for the carriage of persons or goods is only a secondary function.

The main measures of the proposal include:

- a probation period of at least two years for novice drivers after passing the test, and a zero-tolerance rule on drink-driving;

- allowing young people to take their test and commence accompanied driving of cars and lorries from the age of 17 , to gain driving experience;

- adapting driver training and testing to better prepare drivers for the presence of vulnerable users on the road. This will help improve safety for pedestrians, cyclists, as well as users of e-scooters and e-bikes as the EU transitions to more sustainable urban mobility;

- a more targeted assessment of medical fitness , taking into account advances in medical treatment for diseases such as diabetes. Drivers will also be encouraged to update their driving skills and knowledge to keep up with technological developments;

- simplifying the recognition of driving licences between Member States, the Commission proposes the introduction of a digital driving licence , accessible through a mobile phone or other digital device, which would be recognised throughout the EU. It will be much easier to replace, renew or exchange a driving licence since all procedures will be online. In the same vein, it will also be easier for citizens from non-EU countries with comparable road safety standards, to exchange their driving licence for an EU one;

- updated testing rules will take into account the transition to zero-emission vehicles. They will, for example, assess the knowledge and skills linked to advanced driving assistance systems and other automated technologies. Novice drivers will also be taught how their driving style has an impact on their emissions – the timing of gear changes, for example. It is proposed that the permitted mass of a ‘B' category vehicle will be adjusted for alternatively fuelled vehicles, since battery-carrying zero-emission vehicles can be heavier.

Budgetary implications

The implications for the Union budget are mainly for the establishment of an information platform for authorities to exchange information on physical and mental fitness to drive and the development of an (online) training programme for general practitioner between EUR 0.7 to 1.1 million.