Debate: Driving licences
Date: TUESDAY, 27 FEBRUARY 2024
Speaker: Dubravka Šuica
Language: EN

This is a historic piece of legislation, if adopted. This will be the fourth such directive since the original one adopted in 1980. Today, we are so used to the fact that we can drive across the European Union with one driving licence that it seems difficult to imagine when driving licences were not automatically recognised between Member States.  Since 1980, we have gathered countless best practices, closed loopholes, implemented important reforms and adapted to a changing world. The revision again improves what we already have. It does not seek to reinvent the wheel, and I would ask you not to support amendments that could hamper the elements which would work well and are the basis of a well-established system.  Amendments to the definitions and minimum-age requirements currently in force fall into this category. These are especially important for categories B and B1. I would also like to remind you that introducing the concept of demerit points to the directive is problematic, as this would likely prove to be technically challenging to implement considering there is no harmonisation of road traffic offences and penalties at the European level. Moreover, demerit points schemes, where these are used, vary significantly from one Member State to another.  I would ask you to instead focus on issues on which we put attention when drafting the proposal. One concerns the accompanying driver scheme in the European Union. We are proposing that it should be open to 17-year-olds for licence categories B and C, as we wish to build on the positive results seen in the Member States that already have such a system. We now want to make the scheme mandatory. Anything less will cancel out the positive impact on road safety, and it will also diminish its contribution to tackling the current shortage of professional drivers. I want to remind you once again that the road freight sector had around 400 000 unfilled positions at the last count.  I would also ask for your support for our proposal to raise the minimum standards used to ensure fitness to drive. This applies to all drivers, regardless of age. Today, Member States have no mechanism in place to ensure that category A and B licence holders are medically fit when they renew their licence 15, 30 or 45 years, or even longer, after it was issued. We want to make clear that all drivers who are fit to drive should be allowed to do so.  However, holding a driving licence is not only about entitlements, it is also about responsibilities. Between 5% and 15% of all traffic accidents can be attributed to the driver’s medical fitness. I want to make reminder that the Commission chose to include in its proposal the possibility to do a self-assessment, which we still believe to be viable and proportionate on our way forward. I would urge you to support amendments that uphold our level of ambition, so that we can help citizens understand when it is safe to drive. Finally, I would like to thank you for your support on the probationary period for novice drivers, the European Union digital driving licence, the new system for the exchange of third-country driving licences and the easing of language requirements for driving licence applicants living in Member States other than their own. Each of these measures is key to ensuring that the fourth Driving Licence Directive achieves its goal: greater road safety and facilitation of free movement within the European Union.  I look forward to this interesting debate and to the adoption of your report, which I am certain will help improve safety on our roads and will offer more opportunities for our citizens wanting to exercise the right to free movement.