Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the ' Proposal for a Council Directive amending Directive 91/439/EEC on driving licences'
Date: 1996-04-24
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: European driving licence, approximation of laws, data processing, free movement of persons, motor vehicle













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51996AC0531

Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the ' Proposal for a Council Directive amending Directive 91/439/EEC on driving licences'  


Official Journal C 204 , 15/07/1996 P. 0020 





Opinion of the Economic  and Social Committee on the 'Proposal for a Council Directive amending Directive 91/439/EEC on  driving licences` ()(96/C 204/07)On 22  March 1996, the Council decided to consult the  Economic and Social Committee, under Article  75 of the Treaty, on the above-mentioned proposal. The Section for Transport and Communications, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's  work on the subject, adopted its Opinion on 10  April 1996. The Rapporteur was Mr  Donovan. At its 335th Plenary Session (meeting of 24  April 1996), the Economic and Social Committee adopted  the following Opinion by 108 votes for, three votes against and four abstentions. 1. Introduction1.1. The Community model for national driving licences established for  the first time by Directive 80/1263/EEC () has been adapted to take account in particular of the  harmonization of the categories of vehicles and to make it easier for everybody to 'read` the  licence in Directive 91/439/EEC which comes into force on 1  July 1996. 1.2. Directive 91/439/EEC () provides in Article  4.1 'Driving licences shall state the conditions  on which the driver is authorized to drive` and it goes on to say in Annex  I that pages 3 and 4 of  the licence shall contain '... any additional information or restrictions in code form for each  (sub) category concerned`. The Annex also states that code numbers 1-99 should represent harmonized  Community codes whilst 100 and over should represent national codes valid only for driving in the  territory of the State which issued the licence. 2. The Commission proposal2.1. An amendment to the above Directive is now proposed in order to: - adopt a basic harmonized set of codes for these additional references on the licences and their  operating principles as required by the Directive (Article  1); - establish a committee to advise the Commission on any matters relating to the Annexes of  Directive 91/439/EEC arising from scientific and technical progress (Article  2); - redraft Article  3, paragraph  3, indent No  3 of Directive 91/439/EEC to make it more in line  with trade description including the reduction of the maximum designed speed criterion from 50 km/h  to 45 km/h. 3. General comments3.1. These proposals by the Commission are a logical follow on and an  important fleshing out of the earlier Directives, coming into force on 1  July 1996 particular  insofar as the use and harmonizing of codes to facilitate the 'reading` of licences is concerned. 3.2. The establishment of a committee to assist the Commission and to keep it informed is crucially  important to provide the necessary flexibility within the Directive for the revision or otherwise  of references as may be required by scientific, technical or administrative changes and  developments. 3.3. The Commission proposal is yet another useful step towards increased safety on the roads and  facilitating the mutual recognition of driving licences and consequently the free movement of  persons within Europe. 3.4. The ESC wholeheartedly supports the proposed Directive. Done at Brussels, 24  April 1996. The Presidentof the Economic and Social CommitteeCarlos FERRER() OJ No C  110, 16. 4. 1996, p. 7.  () OJ No L 375, 31.  12.  1980, p. 1; OJ No C 197, 23. 8. 1976, p.  32.  () OJ No L 237, 24. 8. 1991, p. 1; OJ No C 159, 26. 6. 1989, p.  21.