COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union concerning the position of the Council on the adoption of a Directive of the European Parliament and the Council on certain driving disqualifications
Date: 2025-09-30
Institutions: Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport, European Commission
Subjects: EU Member State, common transport policy, driving licence, exchange of information, judicial cooperation in civil matters in the EU, penalty, road safety, traffic offence, transport accident

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 30.9.2025  COM(2025) 626 final 2023/0055 (COD)  COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT  pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union  concerning the position of the Council on the adoption of a Directive of the European Parliament and the Council on certain driving disqualifications (Text with EEA relevance)  
 
2023/0055 (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union 

concerning the 

position of the Council on the adoption of a Directive of the European Parliament and 
the Council on certain driving disqualifications 

(Text with EEA relevance) 

1. 

BACKGROUND 

Date of transmission of the proposal to the European Parliament and 
to the Council 
(document COM(2023) 128 final – 2023/0055 COD): 

1 March 2023. 

Date  of  the  opinion  of  the  European  Economic  and  Social 
Committee: 

14 June 2023. 

Date of the position of the European Parliament, first reading: 

6 February 2024. 

Date of transmission of the amended proposal: 

N/A. 

Date of adoption of the position of the Council: 

29 September 2025. 

2. 

OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSAL FROM THE COMMISSION 

The Commission proposal aims to improve road safety by addressing the relative impunity of 
non-resident drivers who commit serious road traffic offences. It introduces a system to make 
certain  driving  disqualifications  resulting  from  serious  offences  effective  throughout  the 
Union, regardless of the Member State in which they occurred. 

3. 

COMMENTS ON THE POSITION OF THE COUNCIL 

The  position  of  the Council  as  adopted  at  first  reading  fully  reflects  the  political  agreement 
reached  between  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  on  25  March  2025.  The 
Commission  accepts  the  overall  agreement.  The  main  points  of  this  agreement  are  the 
following: 

• 

While  the  Commission  had  proposed  a  stand-alone  directive  on  the  Union-wide 
effect  of  certain  driving  disqualifications,  its  provisions  will  be  integrated  into  the 
revised  Driving  Licences  Directive.  Additionally,  the  concept  of  a  “Union-wide” 
disqualification is replaced by a mechanism that, in practice, relies on the principle of 
mutual  recognition.  These  changes  are  expected  to  produce  the  same  effects  as  the 
Commission’s initial proposal. 

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• 

• 

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• 

The  offences  in  the  scope  are  as  proposed  by  the  Commission,  covering  driving 
disqualifications  resulting  from  the  most  serious  road  traffic  offences,  such  as 
excessive  speeding,  driving  under  the  influence  of  alcohol  or  drugs,  and  causing 
death  or  serious  bodily  injury  as  a  result  of  a  traffic  offence.  A  new  recital  will 
clarify  that  driving  disqualifications  imposed  due  to  the  accumulation  or  loss  of 
penalty points are not covered by the Directive. 

Only disqualifications lasting longer than three months will fall  within the scope of 
the directive. 

As  proposed  by  the  Commission,  the  Member  State  that  issued  the  driving  licence 
may decide not to implement a driving disqualification when it is solely based on a 
speeding offence of less than 50 km/h. 

When  carrying  out  the  procedural  steps  under  the  Directive,  Member  States 
authorities should act  “without delay” or “without  undue delay”, but  are not  bound 
by  strict  deadlines.  The  sole  exception  is  that  the  Member  State  that  issued  the 
driving  licence  should,  “to  the  extent  possible,”  notify  the  offender  within  20 
working  days  of  receiving  the  disqualification  notification  from  the  Member  State 
where the offence was committed. 

The  Member  State  that  issued  the  driving  licence  may  apply  additional  road  safety 
measures beyond those provided for in the disqualification. 

Five years after the entry into force of the directive, and every five years thereafter, 
the  Commission  shall  assess  the  possibility  of  extending  its  application  to  driving 
disqualifications  resulting  from  additional  traffic  offences  as  well  as  options  to 
further  improve  the  EU  driving  licence  network  with  a  view  to  reducing 
administrative burden and optimising the notification process. 

4. 

CONCLUSION 

The  Commission  accepts  the  results  of  the  inter-institutional  negotiations  and  can  therefore 
accept the Council's position at first reading. 

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