Renew Europe welcomes today’s adoption of two new pieces of legislations on driving licences - a long-awaited step towards safer roads and fairer enforcement across Europe. With new digital licences, better preparation for young drivers and stronger cooperation between countries, the new directives will uphold road safety standards and make travel easier across Europe.
Five years ago, the European Union set itself a very ambitious goal: to halve the number of road deaths by 2030. The latest data confirm that we are on the right track: in 2024, the number of fatalities fell by 2%. This is real progress, no doubt, but still not enough. That is why today we have taken another important step with the adoption of a package of measures to strengthen road safety, including the revision of the directive on driving licence withdrawal across the Union.
Oihane AGIRREGOITIA MARTÍNEZRenew Europe shadow rapporteur for the Execution of driving disqualification with a Union-wide effect, Committee on Transport and Tourism (TRAN)
The new law will introduce a digital driving licence valid across all Member States and modernise driver training to make roads safer. Young people aged 17 will be able to start accompanied driving to gain experience earlier, while the minimum age for professional drivers will be lowered to respond to the needs of the transport sector.
With this agreement, the EU strengthens road safety rules across all Member States and takes concrete action to address truck drivers' shortages. Today’s vote marks a real step toward the goal of zero death on EU roads by 2050.
Valérie DevauxRenew Europe shadow rapporteur for the Driving Licences Directive
Another major achievement is the mutual recognition of driving disqualifications: serious traffic offenders who lose their right to drive in one country will now be disqualified across all Member States. Previously, a driver could only lose their licence if a serious offence was committed in the country where the licence was issued, which meant that some offenders were able to avoid penalties and continue driving in other Member States. The updated directive closes this loophole by ensuring that serious traffic offences are recognised and enforced across the entire European Union.
With the new directive, we are closing this loophole so that serious offences are recognised across the Union. In other words, we will ensure that anyone who endangers lives on Europe’s roads is held accountable, regardless of the country where their licence was issued. It is clear that cross-border travel is increasing and that road safety does not stop at national borders. From now on, we will have a fairer and more coherent system across the European territory.
Oihane Agirregoitia MartínezRenew Europe MEP, Spain, Partido Nacionalista Vasco
