Press release - Agreement on EU-wide rules to reduce reckless driving while abroad

A provisional agreement was reached on Tuesday evening between Parliament and Council negotiators on new rules ensuring that the withdrawal of a non-resident’s driving licence is applied across all EU countries.

Currently, if a driver loses their licence following a traffic offence in a different EU country to the one where the licence was issued, the sanction will only be applicable, in most cases, in the country where the offence was committed and not where it was issued or any other EU member state. According to the agreement agreed by MEPs and the Council, a driving withdrawal, suspension or restriction will be passed on to the EU country which issued the driving licence to enforce the penalty and make sure it is followed across the whole of the EU.

Triggers for EU-wide penalties

With the new rules in place, concerned EU countries will have to inform each other, without undue delay, about decisions on driving disqualifications related to the most severe traffic offences - including drink or drug driving, involvement in a fatal traffic accident, or excessive speeding (e.g. driving 50 km/h faster than the speed limit).

During the negotiations, MEPs managed to convince EU countries to introduce a deadline of 20 working days to inform the driver concerned about a decision on their sanction and on the procedure they can use to challenge it.

MEPs also secured an obligation for the Commission to assess, five years after the entry into force of the new provisions, whether to expand the set of driving offences triggering the EU-wide application of a sanction and introduce stricter deadlines for information exchange between EU countries to enhance the implementation of new rules.

Quote

EP rapporteur Matteo Ricci (S&D, IT) said: “This Directive is a crucial step in ensuring better road safety. By introducing clearer and more timely criteria for suspending driving privileges because of serious violations, this measure protects not only responsible drivers but the entire community. A more effective system of control and sanction will prevent accidents and save lives.”

Next steps

The informal agreement on driving disqualification rules still needs to be approved by both the Council and the Parliament.