Changes from plenary report to adopted text

Change 4

RemovedSHORT JUSTIFICATION

AddedP9_TC1-COD(2023)0053

RemovedThe Council position at first reading reflects the political agreement reached between the Parliament and the Council during interinstitutional negotiations at early second-reading stage.

AddedPosition of the European Parliament adopted at first reading on 28 February 2024 with a view to the adoption of Directive (EU) 2024/… 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

RemovedThe adopted provisions aim to enhance road safety and facilitate the free movement of persons by introducing mutually recognisable EU mobile driving licences, amending and clarifying minimum age requirements, establishing basic medical fitness requirements and default validity periods for driving licences, as well as strengthening rules for novice drivers, introducing Union-wide accompanied driving schemes for certain categories of licences, and setting specific rules for certain types of vehicles, such as emergency vehicles, motorhomes, or alternatively fuelled vehicles.

Added(Text with EEA relevance)

RemovedThe agreed text is the result of extensive negotiations. The co-legislators have reached a balanced compromise on the revision of the Driving Licences Directive, ensuring that it reflects current needs and realities.

AddedTHE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

AddedHaving regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 91(1) thereof,

AddedHaving regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

AddedAfter transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments,

AddedHaving regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee,

AddedHaving regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions,

AddedActing in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure,

AddedWhereas:

Added(-1) The Union is committed with its "Vision Zero" goal to no road traffic related fatalities by 2050, as reiterated in the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy of 2020. In 2017 the Valletta informal Transport Council agreed that the persistently high number of traffic fatalities and serious road traffic injuries is a major societal problem and issued a declaration calling upon the Commission, among others, to prepare a strengthened Union road safety policy and legal framework for the decade after 2020, ensuring fewer deaths, and enhancing the protection of road users, in particular vulnerable ones, who are most often the victims. [Am. 1]

Added(-1a) The efforts undertaken so far by public authorities have resulted in a reduction of road fatalities from 51 400 in 2001 to 19 800 in 2021. Those figures fell below the Union target of a 75 % reduction in road fatalities between 2001 and 2020. Moreover, the progress made towards halving the number of road deaths during the first decade later stagnated. [Am. 2]

Added(1) 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. Given the importance of individual means of transport, possession of a driving licence duly recognised by a host Member State promotes and facilitates free movement and freedom of establishment of persons. Similarly, any unlawful obtaining of such a document or the right to drive, or the loss of a rightfully gained driving licence by way of unlawful conduct, affects not only the Member State in which such violations were committed but also road safety throughout the Union.

Added(2) The current framework, should be updated to be fit for the new era, sustainable, inclusive, smart and resilient. It should take into account the need to reduce emissions and energy consumption from transport, including through a greater uptake of alternatively powered vehicles, digitalisation, the demographic trends and technological developments to reinforce the competitiveness of the European Economy. 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 harmonized Union standard driving licence framework should encompass both physical and mobile driving licences of all categories, and provide for their mutual recognition, where they were duly issued in accordance with this Directive. [Am. 3]

Added(3) The European Union has introduced the first “Community model” physical driving licence on 4 December 1980. Since then the rules relating to such a Community model have become the cornerstone of the most advanced licencing structures in the world, covering more than 250 million drivers. This Directive should therefore build on the accumulated experience and practice and lay down harmonized rules on the Union standards of physical driving licences. The physical driving licences issued within the Union should, in particular, provide for a high level of protection against fraud and forgery by means of anti-forgery measures and the possibility to include microchips or QR codes on them.

Added(4) It should be ensured that personal data processing for the implementation of this Directive complies with the data protection framework of the Union, in particular Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Counciland the Directive 2002/58/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council. [Am. 5]

Added(5) This Directive establishes a legal basis for the storage of an obligatory set of personal data in the physical driving licences and their microchips or QR codes and the mobile driving licences, for the purposes of proving and verifying the person’s right to drive and his or her identity, in order to guarantee a high level of road safety throughout the Union, and in compliance with Article 6(1)(e)6(1), point (e) and, where applicable, Article 9(2)(g)9(2), point (g) of Regulation (EU) 2016/679. Such data should be limited to what is necessary to prove a person’s right to drive, identify this person and verify the person’s driving rights and identity. This Directive also provides for additional safeguards to ensure the protection of personal data disclosed during the verification process. [Am. 6]

Added(6) In order to provide for legal clarity and guarantee the seamless transition between this Directive and Directive 2006/126/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on driving licences, Member States should be able to store additional personal data on a microchip, if this is provided by national law which complies with Regulation (EU) 2016/679. In any event, any data stored on such a microchip should only be kept until the end of driving licence’s validity period. This Directive does not serve, however, as a legal basis for the inclusion of such additional data. [Am. 7]

Added(7) In contrast to this, the QR code established by this Directive, which allows for the verification of the authenticity of the information printed on the physical driving licence should not allow for more information to be stored than what is reported on the physical driving licence.

Added(8) This Directive does not provide a legal basis for setting up or maintaining databases at national level for the storage of biometric data in Member States, which is a matter of national law that needs to comply with Union law regarding data protection. Moreover, this Directive does not provide a legal basis for setting up or maintaining a centralised database of biometric data at Union level.

Added(8a) The mobile driving licence should ensure the highest level of security for the personal data used for identification and authentication irrespective of whether such data is stored locally, in decentralised ledgers or on cloud-based solutions, and taking into account the different levels of risk. Despite the need for strong user authentication, the use of biometrics to identify and authenticate personal data should not be made a precondition for the use of the mobile driving licence. Biometric data used for the purpose of authentication of a natural person pursuant to the Regulation (EU) 2016/679 should not be stored using cloud-based solutions without the explicit consent of the user. The use of biometric data should be limited to specific scenarios set out in Article 9 of this Regulation, and requires organisational and security measures, commensurate to the risk that such processing may entail to the rights and freedoms of natural persons and in accordance with Regulation 2016/679. [Am. 8]

Added(9) Further commitments are needed to accelerate the fight against forgery and fraud concerning driving licences. Therefore, it is desirable for the date originally set by Directive 2006/126/EC for all physical driving licences issued or in circulation to fulfil all the requirements laid down in Union law to be moved forward.

Added(10) The digital transformation is one of the Union’s priorities. In the case of road transport, it will contribute to remove the remaining administrative barriers, such as the ones relating to the duration of issuing physical driving licences, to free movement of persons. Therefore, a separate Union standard should be established for the mobile driving licences issued within the Union. In order to facilitate digital transformation mobile driving licences should be issued as default fromin addition to the physical driving licence from … [date-of-adoption+4years4 years], without prejudice to the applicant’s right to acquirerenounce either a physical one or both at the same timea digital one. The applicant should have the right to acquire at any time the format of the driving licence, which he or she initially renounced. A discretionary approach should remain the rule, while ensuring that applicants have equal access to the physical and mobile format from an economic and operational perspective. Opting for a physical driving licence should therefore be in no way discouraged, and in particular, applicants who are unable or unwilling to acquire a mobile driving licence should continue to have access to a physical driving licence. Member States should ensure that the physical driving licence is issued or reissued without undue delay and no later than within 2 weeks from the date it was requested. [Am. 9]

Added(11) The mobile driving licence should not only contain the information reported on the physical driving licence, but also information allowing to verifyenabling the authenticity of the data and a single-use pointer to be verified. However it should be ensured that even in such cases the amount of personal data made available is restricted to what would be reported on the physical driving licence and what is strictly necessary for the verification of the authenticity of such data, in particular the electronic signature of the issuing authority. That additional data should be different in case a person holds several mobile driving licences, which is possible provided that they are issued by the same Member State. [Am. 10]

Added(12) The Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy sets out a vision for the EU to significantly improve sustainability of mobility and transport. Emissions from the road transport sector include greenhouse gases emissions, air pollutants, noise and microplastics from tyre and road wear. A greater presence of alternatively fuelled vehicles is key to the green transition. The possibility of new models of a greater weight being available in driving licence categories B, C or D should be taken into consideration in this Directive. Driving style influences these emissions, with possible negative impacts on the environment and human health. Therefore, driving training and testing should equip drivers to reduce their impact on emissions, including through eco-driving, as well as to prepare them to drive zero-emissionzero or low-emission vehicles. [Am. 11]

Added(13) In order to allow citizens and residents to directly enjoy the benefits of the internal market without incurring an unnecessary additional administrative burden, Regulation (EU) 2018/1724 of the European Parliament and the Council provides for access to online procedures relevant for the functioning of the internal market, including for cross-border users. The information covered by this Directive is already covered in Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2018/1724. Annex II to that Regulation should be amended as to assure that any requester benefits from fully online procedures.

Added(13a) The national or regional differences regarding the categorisation of ambulances and the categories of licences needed to drive such vehicles pose the risk of disrupting cross-border circulation or circulation within the same Member State. Ambulances should therefore be subject to a special treatment under this Directive. It should therefore be allowed to drive ambulances with driving licence of category B throughout the Union, provided the authorised mass of the ambulance does not exceed 4 250 kg, 2 years after a driving licence for category B was issued for the first time. [Am. 12]

Added(14) Driving licences should be categorised according to the types of vehicles they provide the right to drive to. This should be done in a clear and coherent manner and in full respect of the technical characteristics of the vehicles concerned and the skills needed to drive them.

Added(14a) Individual means of transport play a key role in fulfilling the mobility needs of millions of European citizens, particularly in rural areas and for persons with reduced mobility. Nevertheless, in some instances the affordability of a driving licence is a barrier. Member States should consider developing appropriate infrastructure in urban, peri-urban and rural areas necessary to reduce road accidents and traffic congestion, as well as targeted policies and support schemes for those at risk of transport poverty. [Am. 13]

Added(15) In accordance with United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities of 13 December 2006, to which the EU has been a Party since 21 January 2011, specific provisions should be adopted to make it easier for persons with disabilities to drive vehicles. Moreover, persons with reduced mobility, regardless of their ability to drive a vehicle need to enjoy their mobility rights in order to prevent transport poverty. Giving effect to those mobility rights could entail the use of adapted individual or collective vehicles, including special features or equipment, and appropriate infrastructure, including in rural areas. As such, with the prior agreement of the Commission, Member States should be allowed to exclude from the application of Article 6 certain specific types of power-driven vehicles. [Am. 14]

Added(16) The minimum ages of applicants for the different categories of driving licences should be set at Union level. Nevertheless, Member States should be allowed to set a higher age limit for the driving of certain categories of vehicles in order to further promote road safety. Member States should inbe allowed on exceptional circumstances be allowedbasis to set lower age limits in order to take account of national circumstances. In particular, to allow the driving of fire service, civil protection and public order maintenance related vehicles or pilot projects related to new vehicle technologies. [Am. 15]

Added(16a) Active mobility, which includes walking and the use of bicycles or electric bikes and other light means of transport such as e-scooters, is becoming increasingly popular given the green transition. Their users are more frequently entering the European roads and sharing them with other individual means of transport. Youngest users, who are increasingly using particularly e-scooters often use them without a proper knowledge of the applicable norms as they have not yet acquired a driving licence for any category. This is resulting in increasing numbers of accidents in which e-scooters are involved, with both pedestrians and users of e-scooters as main victims. Given overall road safety challenges, Member States should introduce in their school curricula age-appropriate traffic rules and risk awareness training, with a view to improve road safety. That should ensure widespread comprehensive knowledge of safety measures, such as seat belts and helmet use, and in particular the traffic participation of vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians, cyclists or e-scooters, and the safe interaction with motorised vehicles. Member States could introduce further measures and schemes for users of personal mobility vehicles with a view to decrease traffic accidents, improve road safety rules and risk awareness. [Am. 16]

Added(16b) The combination of an adequate minimum age for licences in each category, that facilitates both mobility independence of young drivers and their timely access to professional driving, and stricter conditions for novice drivers regarding inter alia alcohol limits, can benefit road safety. [Am. 17]

Added(16c) The assessment of a driver's fitness to drive safely should be made on the basis of specific criteria, taking into account in particular driver’s medical condition. Decisions on the restriction, suspension, withdrawal or cancellation of driving licences should be taken on an individual basis and should be based on the objective results of examinations and tests. Any form of discrimination against licensed drivers solely on the grounds of age should be unacceptable. [Am. 18]

Added(16d) The right to a driving licence is a guarantee of freedom of movement and participation in economic and social life, especially in rural and less urbanised areas with a limited public transport network. Particularly for the elderly, the lonely, persons with reduced mobility or persons with disabilities, individual transport is an important element in supporting their independent and autonomous functioning. Restrictions on the right to hold a driving licence should be based on objective criteria determined on an individual basis and should not entail the risk of discrimination. [Am. 19]

Added(17) A system of staging - namely establishing the entitlement for a category B driving licence as a prerequisite for the applicant to become eligible to hold certain other categories -, and equivalences between categories should be established, including a minimum period of experience before such eligibility, where appropriate. Such system should be partially binding on all Member States, but should also grant Member States the possibility to apply it between each other in their respective territories. Member States should also be allowed to establish certain equivalences limited to their own territory only. [Am. 20]

Added(18) On the grounds of road safety, it is necessary to lay down the minimum requirements for the issue of a driving licence. Standards for driving tests and licensing should be harmonised. To that end, the knowledge, skills and behaviour connected with driving power-driven vehicles should be specified, the driving test should be based on these concepts and the minimum standards of physical and mental fitness for driving such vehicles should be specified. Such requirements should take into account the different practices in use in all Member States. [Ams. 242 and 305]

Added(18a) Currently, when issuing driving licences for group 1, namely for drivers of vehicles of categories A, A1, A2, AM, B, B1 and BE, most Member States have established some form of fitness check to drive, beyond the eyesight test. Such a check may vary from a self-assessment form to a medical examination, carried out by general practitioner or a specialist doctor or a testing centre. When renewing driving licences for group 1, few Member States require a medical examination. There are also few Member States that have established a national mechanism for reporting significant changes in the fitness to drive. In general, when issuing and renewing driving licences for group 2, namely for drivers of vehicles of categories C, CE, C1, C1E, D, DE, D1 and D1E, the requirements are more stringent and detailed, by mandating a medical examination. [Ams. 243 and 306]

Added(19) Proof of compliance with minimum standards of physical and mental fitness for driving by drivers of vehicles used for the transport of persons or goods should be provided when the driving licence is issued and periodically thereafter. Such regular control in accordance with national rules of compliance with minimum standards would contribute to the free movement of persons, avoid distortions of competition and better take into account the specific responsibility of drivers of such vehicles. Member States should be allowed to impose medical examinations as a guarantee of compliance with the minimum standards of physical and mental fitness for driving other power-driven vehicles. For reasons of transparency, such examinations should coincide with a renewal of driving licences. [Am. 21]

Added(19a) Recent new medical technologies have contributed to improve road safety. Technologies which minimize or eliminate the risk connected to driving with specific medical conditions have been introduced to the market and implemented among patients. Monitoring technologies, such as continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) systems for people with diabetes mellitus, allows persons to effectively and continuously control their medical conditions thus eliminating the risk of driving connected to their disease. Furthermore technologies like CGM systems are currently being developed and improved at a rapid pace ensuring a continuously improved control of medical conditions and thereby increasing the road safety. [Am. 22]

Added(19b) The European Parliament in its resolution of 23 November 2022 on prevention, management and better care of diabetes in the EU on the occasion of World Diabetes Day has called on the Commission to review the relevant occupational health and safety legal framework and the road safety legislation to avoid further discrimination of people living with diabetes. [Am. 23]

Added(20) In order to ensure uniform rights across the Union, taking into account also considerations of road safety, driving licences of categories AM, A1, A2, A, B1 and B should have an administrative validity of 15 years, while categories C, CE, C1, C1E, D, DE, D1 and D1E shall have an administrative validity of five years. Member States should be allowed to define shorter period in exceptional cases, as defined by this Directive.

Added(20a) Refresher courses for experienced drivers can improve road safety by raising awareness and requiring drivers to gain additional experience in new technological solutions such as advanced driver-assistance systems, semi-automated and automated. For that purpose, the use of simulators could be key to update skills of experienced drivers. In addition, driving simulators could also recreate adverse conditions and emergency scenarios and consequently improve the driver's ability to respond and make decisions in critical situations. [Am. 24]

Added(20b) Lifelong training is key to keeping experienced drivers’ skills up to date, especially with regard to eco-driving, the increase in the mass of vehicles, the constant technological advances in driver assistance systems and other automated devices, and alternative vehicle power sources. Member States should therefore be encouraged to develop training modules for experienced drivers. [Am. 25]

Added(21) In order to allow the Member States and, in duly justified cases the Union as a whole, to react to crises that make it impossible for national authorities to renew driving licences the validity of which would otherwise expire it should be made possible to extend the administrative validity of such driving licences for the duration strictly necessary.

Added(22) The principle of ‘one holder - one licence’ should prevents any person of holding more than one physical driving licence. Nevertheless, the principle should also be extended to take into account the technical specificities of mobile driving licences.

Added(23) For reasons connected with road safety, Member States should be able to apply their national provisions on the withdrawal, suspension, renewal and cancellation of driving licences to all licence holders having acquired normal residence in their territory.

Added(24) Drivers who hold a driving licence issued by the Member State where they reside following an exchange with a driving licence issued by a third country should be entitled to drive across the Union as if they had originally obtained the licence within the Union. Such an exchange could have diverse effects on road safety and the free movement of persons.

Added(25) The Commission should be empowered to adopt a decision identifying third countries that ensure a comparable level of road safety as the Union and providing the opportunity to holders of licences issued by these countries to exchange their driving licences on similar terms as if they were issued by a Member State. The Commission should in this regard be allowed to assess if a third country has a professional driver training, certification rules and examination procedures, that are wholly or partly comparable to the level in the Union, in order to ultimately issue a certificate comparable to the Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC). This could allow the holders of those third-country certificates to exchange them with a European CPC, provided that they undertake an additional competence training. Such certificate could, in addition to the driving licence, be the second mandatory requirement for professional drivers to be able to carry out transport operations for a Union based transport undertaking. These conditions should be detailed and well-defined to all relevant driving licence categories. [Am. 26]

Added(26) As regards driving licences issued by third countries that are not the object of such a Commission decision, or for which such a decision does not explicitly authorise nor prohibit the exchange, Member States should be allowed to exchange them in accordance with their national rules, provided that they use the relevant Union code on the exchanged licence. In case the holder of such a licence changes his or her residence to a new Member State, the latter should not be required to apply the principle of mutual recognition to such licence.

Added(27) “Driving licence tourism”, namely the practice of changing residence for the purpose of acquiring a new driving licence, in order to circumvent the effects of a driving disqualification imposed in another Member State, is a wide-spread phenomenon, which has a negative effect on road safety. Drivers should not be exempted from requirements imposed on them to recover their right to drive or their driving licence, by changing their residence. At the same time it should be clarified that any conduct from the part of the citizens should only lead to an indefinite ban from driving where it is duly justified, and that such a decision should only have an effect limited to the territory of the Member State that issued it.

Added(27a) Non-Road Mobile Machinery (NRMM) covers a wide variety of machinery typically used off the road in many ways. It comprises, for example construction and forestry machinery (excavators, loaders, bulldozers, etc.), agricultural and farming machinery (harvesters, cultivators, etc.). The existing Directive does not apply to such a machinery. It is, however, a subject to a patchwork of national provisions as regards the required driving licence and particular training requirements since it may circulate on public roads. Member States should collaborate with the view to facilitate usage of Non-Road Mobile Machinery across the Union, in particular in cross border context, seasonal work or work provided by posted workers. 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 in all Member States. The deliberations of the platform for cooperation should serve as a base for the Commission’s report on the effects of use of national provisions on Non Road Mobile Machinery and its implication on internal market and road safety. This report might be accompanied, if appropriate, by a legislative proposal to the European Parliament and the Council with the view to facilitating use of Non Road Mobile Machinery across the Union. [Am. 310]

Added(28) A Union-wide accompanied driving scheme should be introduced for certain driving licence categories B, C and C1, in order to improve road safety. The rules of such a system should provide the possibility of applicants to acquire driving licences in the relevant categories before the required minimum age limit is reached. However the use of those driving licences should be subject to being accompanied by an experienced driver. In such situations, Member States should be allowed, for reasons of road safety, to define stricter conditions and rules within their territory concerning the driving licences they have issued. [Am. 27]

Added(29) The accompanied driving scheme should, without prejudice to its overall goal of improving road safety, make the profession of truck driver more accessible and appealing to younger generations, in order to broaden their occupational possibilities, and to help tackle the driver shortage within the Union. Therefore, it should cover category Ccategories C and C1 driving licences and their prerequisite B category licences. [Am. 28]

Added(29a) The partnership between vocational schools and transport and logistics companies should be incentivised, including through specific Union budget support and use of revenues earmarked under Directive 2015/413 of the European Parliament and of the Council, in order to tackle professional drivers' shortage in the Union. Such partnership should offer to future professional drivers an opportunity to become more familiar with the benefits and the challenges of the profession, to improve their operational and organisational skills and to gain experience, while using advanced technologies and techniques. The form of that support could include, among others, EU co-financing to obtain certain qualifications such as CPC or dedicated trainings for future drivers. [Am. 29]