UITP Position Paper on the Revision of the Driving Licences Directive

The European Commission has published on 1 March the proposal to review the EU driving licences directive. This proposal aims to modernise the driving licence rules to make roads safer as well as introduce a digital driving licence valid throughout the EU along with new provisions to facilitate the enforcement of traffic rules across borders.

With the digital driving licence, the Commission proposes new rules to facilitate the replacement, renewal or exchange of 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. With these provisions, the EU Commission endeavours to help address the professional driver shortage in the EU.

In the context of the revision of the Directive, UITP asks the EU Institutions within the revision process of the Driving Licence Directive to:

• To skip the reference to the length of lines (less than 50 km) in Art.5  3. (a) in Directive 2022/2561 and thus lower the minimum age requirements for Category D(DE) drivers holding a Certificate of Professional Competence to 21 years and allowing Member States to further reduce that age to 18 years on their territory.
• Allow workshop employees, like mechatronics, holding a Category C driving licence to move busses without passengers (for example for test or transfer trips) and carry out the necessary inspection drives.