3.

If we now turn to the actual question referred for a preliminary ruling from the standpoint of the legal position under German law which, as we know, on the one hand requires a domestic driving licence to be obtained but which, on the other hand, provides for the granting of this licence to be facilitated, for the licence as it were to be transcribed, and only requires tests in two — very rare — exceptional cases, then the following observations on this aspect of the matter have to be made: (a) The fact that in general the issue of a domestic driving licence is required can in my view hardly be objectionable. This is supported in the first place by certain pertinent reasons, to some of which the Netherlands Government has drawn attention in its written observations. For example, the checking of a driving licence by enforcement officers is undoubtedly facilitated if it is recorded in a domestic document. In the absence of such a document the checking of the validity of a driving licence is made more difficult if it includes a time-limit for use abroad — as in the case in the Netherlands. Should only the domestic driving licence be subject to a time-limit its renewal may be rendered more difficult if the driver only has foreign documents in his possession. There are, furthermore, problems connected with the withdrawal of a driving licence or a declaration that it is invalid. On the other hand, attention may be drawn to the fact — and this is equally important — that merely transcribing a licence does not entail heavy costs or take up considerable time, and the fact that in this respect there cannot therefore be said to be significant obstacles which are in any way material to the exercise of rights derived from the Treaty, especially the right to freedom of movement. (b) Nor, in principle, can any objection be made to the requirement that a driving test must be passed before the driving licence is granted, where there are doubts as to the fitness of the holder of a foreign driving licence. This is justified on grounds of public security as mentioned in Articles 48 and 56 of the EEC Treaty. Naturally, this is acceptable only if such doubts as to the fitness of holders of foreign driving licences are not raised systematically but are based on specific facts which provide a sufficiently clear indication that there is a threat to public security. However, one can proceed on the basis that the German practice follows this procedure, since Jagusch's Commentary on Road Traffic Law (19th Edition) expressly states in connexion with Article 15 of the Straßenverkehrszuiassungsordnung that the doubts referred to in that article should be founded on facts. As far as concerns the arrangements for the test which may have to be taken, I will have something to say about this presently in another connexion. (c) It now only remains for me to consider the position regarding the other conditions which have been mentioned for the transcription of a foreign driving licence and also the requirement that, if those conditions are not met, a test on German road traffic regulations must be taken. As has already been mentioned, there are three conditions under German law. The applicant must have his residence in the Federal Republic of Germany, he must have stayed for one year principally in the Federal Republic of Germany and he must during that period have driven a motor vehicle belonging to the class in respect of which he has applied for a driving licence. These conditions are in substance entirely justifiable. This applies in particular to the third condition, which is intended to ensure that adequate adjustment to German road traffic conditions, including partially different traffic regulations, has been achieved. Furthermore, it must be acknowledged that they can easily be satisfied — I am thinking in this connexion in particular of international agreements, pursuant to which provisional use of foreign driving licences is allowed — and I would also suggest that no appreciable obstacles stem from the fact that the existence of the said preconditions must be proved. Finally, the fact that, in the event of a failure to fulfil these conditions or of want of adequate evidence, a test of knowledge of road traffic regulations is required is as such also hardly objectionable. This is undoubtedly justified by considerations of road safety, that is to say the idea of public security and public policy again comes into play; an adequate knowledge of German road traffic regulations can as a general rule be imputed to the holder of a driving licence obtained abroad only if he has driven on national territory for an appropriate period. On this last point doubts could only arise with reference to the nature of the test, which I have already mentioned a little earlier. If it is conducted in the same way as the ordinary theoretical German driving test with the use of complicated questionnaires then holders of foreign driving licences may be confronted with linguistic problems which can only be solved by means of expensive preparations with the aid of driving instructors and language teachers. This can be in fact regarded as an unreasonable and consequently unlawful barrier — the actual fees for taking the test are clearly kept within tolerable limits. Consequently I am convinced that on this aspect of the matter, the following finding must be recorded; where a test of knowledge of German road traffic regulations is considered to be necessary — and this applies equally to the fitness test under subparagraph 1 — it must be conducted in a way — for instance orally — such as to take sufficient account of the special difficulties of foreign applicants. It must not be assumed that this might overtax the administration, if the said tests do not constitute the rule, which could indeed give rise to objections, but are relatively infrequent exceptional cases occasioned by specific circumstances linked to individuals. 4. To sum up, the finding may therefore be recorded that the requirements to be satisfied by foreigners who are citizens of the EEC wishing to obtain a German driving licence are not in breach of Community law either from the standpoint of the prohibition of discrimination or from that of the right to freedom of movement. However, this applies on the condition that the tests which are regarded as necessary in particular cases are so arranged that particular difficulties, in particular language difficulties, which exist for foreign applicants are as far as possible taken into account. There can also be no objection under Community law to the existence of a penalty provision, applicable if a driving licence is not obtained, provided that it prescribes the imposition of appropriate penalties without distinction between foreigners and nationals. In my view the question referred by the Amtsgericht Reutlingen should be answered in this way.