What changed between the adopted text of 28 Feb 2024 and the adopted text of 21 Oct 2025

Removed:TEXTS ADOPTED

Added:P10_TA(2025)0234

Removed:P9_TA(2024)0095

Driving licences

Committee on Transport and Tourism

Removed:PE750.248

Added:PE778.047

Changed:European Parliament legislative resolution of 2821 FebruaryOctober 20242025 on the proposalCouncil forposition at first reading with a view to the adoption of a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on driving licences, amending DirectiveRegulation (EU) 2022/25612018/1724 of the European Parliament and of the Council,Council Regulationand Directive (EU) 2018/17242022/2561 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilCouncil, and repealing Directive 2006/126/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Commission Regulation (EU) No 383/2012 (COM(2023)0127(08353/1/2025 – C9-0035/2023C10-0233/2025 – 2023/0053(COD))

Changed:(Ordinary legislative procedure: firstsecond reading)

The European Parliament,

Changed:– having regard to the CommissionCouncil proposalposition toat Parliamentfirst andreading the(08353/1/2025 Council– (COM(2023)0127),C100233/2025),

Changed:– having regard to Article 294(2) and Article 91(1) of the Treaty on the Functioningopinion of the European Union, pursuant to which theEconomic Commissionand submittedSocial theCommittee proposalof to14 ParliamentJune (C90035/2023),2023,

Change 1

Removed:– having regard to Article 294(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Added:– after consulting the Committee of the Regions,

Changed:– having regard to theits opinionposition ofat thefirst Europeanreading Economicon andthe SocialCommission Committeeproposal ofto 14Parliament Juneand 2023;the Council (COM(2023)0127),

Change 2

Removed:– after having consulted the Committee of the Regions,

Added:– having regard to Article 294(7) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Changed:– having regard to the provisional agreement approved by the committee responsible under Rule 5975(4) of its Rules of Procedure,

Changed:– having regard to theRule report68 of the Committee on Transportits andRules Tourismof (A9-0445/2023),Procedure,

Change 3

Removed:1. Adopts its position at first reading hereinafter set out;

Added:– having regard to the recommendation for second reading of the Committee on Transport and Tourism (A10-0191/2025),

Removed:2. Calls on the Commission to refer the matter to Parliament again if it replaces, substantially amends or intends to substantially amend its proposal;

Added:1. Approves the Council position at first reading;

Added:2. Notes that the act is adopted in accordance with the Council position;

Added:3. Instructs its President to sign the act with the President of the Council, in accordance with Article 297(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union;

Added:4. Instructs its Secretary-General to sign the act, once it has been verified that all the; procedures have been duly completed, and, in agreement with the Secretary-General of the Council, to arrange for its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union;

5. Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council, the Commission and the national parliaments.

Change 4

Removed:P9_TC1-COD(2023)0053

Removed:Position of the European Parliament adopted at first reading on 28 February 2024 with a view to the adoption of Directive (EU) 2024/… of the European Parliament and of the Council on driving licences, amending Directive (EU) 2022/2561 of the European Parliament and of the Council, Regulation (EU) 2018/1724 of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Directive 2006/126/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Commission Regulation (EU) No 383/2012

Removed:(Text with EEA relevance)

Removed:THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Removed:Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 91(1) thereof,

Removed:Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

Removed:After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments,

Removed:Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee,

Removed:Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions,

Removed:Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure,

Removed:Whereas:

Removed:(-1) The Union is committed with its "Vision Zero" goal to no road traffic related fatalities by 2050, as reiterated in the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy of 2020. In 2017 the Valletta informal Transport Council agreed that the persistently high number of traffic fatalities and serious road traffic injuries is a major societal problem and issued a declaration calling upon the Commission, among others, to prepare a strengthened Union road safety policy and legal framework for the decade after 2020, ensuring fewer deaths, and enhancing the protection of road users, in particular vulnerable ones, who are most often the victims. [Am. 1]

Removed:(-1a) The efforts undertaken so far by public authorities have resulted in a reduction of road fatalities from 51 400 in 2001 to 19 800 in 2021. Those figures fell below the Union target of a 75 % reduction in road fatalities between 2001 and 2020. Moreover, the progress made towards halving the number of road deaths during the first decade later stagnated. [Am. 2]

Removed:(1) The rules on driving licences are essential elements of the common transport policy, contribute to improving road safety, and facilitate the free movement of persons taking up residence in a Member State other than the one issuing the licence. Given the importance of individual means of transport, possession of a driving licence duly recognised by a host Member State promotes and facilitates free movement and freedom of establishment of persons. Similarly, any unlawful obtaining of such a document or the right to drive, or the loss of a rightfully gained driving licence by way of unlawful conduct, affects not only the Member State in which such violations were committed but also road safety throughout the Union.

Removed:(2) The current framework, should be updated to be fit for the new era, sustainable, inclusive, smart and resilient. It should take into account the need to reduce emissions and energy consumption from transport, including through a greater uptake of alternatively powered vehicles, digitalisation, the demographic trends and technological developments to reinforce the competitiveness of the European Economy. It is important to simplify and digitise administrative procedures, in order to remove the remaining barriers, such as administrative burdens, to the free movement of the drivers taking up residence in a Member State other than the one issuing the licence. A harmonized Union standard driving licence framework should encompass both physical and mobile driving licences of all categories, and provide for their mutual recognition, where they were duly issued in accordance with this Directive. [Am. 3]

Removed:(3) The European Union has introduced the first “Community model” physical driving licence on 4 December 1980. Since then the rules relating to such a Community model have become the cornerstone of the most advanced licencing structures in the world, covering more than 250 million drivers. This Directive should therefore build on the accumulated experience and practice and lay down harmonized rules on the Union standards of physical driving licences. The physical driving licences issued within the Union should, in particular, provide for a high level of protection against fraud and forgery by means of anti-forgery measures and the possibility to include microchips or QR codes on them.

Removed:(4) It should be ensured that personal data processing for the implementation of this Directive complies with the data protection framework of the Union, in particular Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Counciland the Directive 2002/58/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council. [Am. 5]

Removed:(5) This Directive establishes a legal basis for the storage of an obligatory set of personal data in the physical driving licences and their microchips or QR codes and the mobile driving licences, for the purposes of proving and verifying the person’s right to drive and his or her identity, in order to guarantee a high level of road safety throughout the Union, and in compliance with Article 6(1)(e)6(1), point (e) and, where applicable, Article 9(2)(g)9(2), point (g) of Regulation (EU) 2016/679. Such data should be limited to what is necessary to prove a person’s right to drive, identify this person and verify the person’s driving rights and identity. This Directive also provides for additional safeguards to ensure the protection of personal data disclosed during the verification process. [Am. 6]

Removed:(6) In order to provide for legal clarity and guarantee the seamless transition between this Directive and Directive 2006/126/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on driving licences, Member States should be able to store additional personal data on a microchip, if this is provided by national law which complies with Regulation (EU) 2016/679. In any event, any data stored on such a microchip should only be kept until the end of driving licence’s validity period. This Directive does not serve, however, as a legal basis for the inclusion of such additional data. [Am. 7]

Removed:(7) In contrast to this, the QR code established by this Directive, which allows for the verification of the authenticity of the information printed on the physical driving licence should not allow for more information to be stored than what is reported on the physical driving licence.

Removed:(8) This Directive does not provide a legal basis for setting up or maintaining databases at national level for the storage of biometric data in Member States, which is a matter of national law that needs to comply with Union law regarding data protection. Moreover, this Directive does not provide a legal basis for setting up or maintaining a centralised database of biometric data at Union level.

Removed:(8a) The mobile driving licence should ensure the highest level of security for the personal data used for identification and authentication irrespective of whether such data is stored locally, in decentralised ledgers or on cloud-based solutions, and taking into account the different levels of risk. Despite the need for strong user authentication, the use of biometrics to identify and authenticate personal data should not be made a precondition for the use of the mobile driving licence. Biometric data used for the purpose of authentication of a natural person pursuant to the Regulation (EU) 2016/679 should not be stored using cloud-based solutions without the explicit consent of the user. The use of biometric data should be limited to specific scenarios set out in Article 9 of this Regulation, and requires organisational and security measures, commensurate to the risk that such processing may entail to the rights and freedoms of natural persons and in accordance with Regulation 2016/679. [Am. 8]

Removed:(9) Further commitments are needed to accelerate the fight against forgery and fraud concerning driving licences. Therefore, it is desirable for the date originally set by Directive 2006/126/EC for all physical driving licences issued or in circulation to fulfil all the requirements laid down in Union law to be moved forward.

Removed:(10) The digital transformation is one of the Union’s priorities. In the case of road transport, it will contribute to remove the remaining administrative barriers, such as the ones relating to the duration of issuing physical driving licences, to free movement of persons. Therefore, a separate Union standard should be established for the mobile driving licences issued within the Union. In order to facilitate digital transformation mobile driving licences should be issued as default fromin addition to the physical driving licence from … [date-of-adoption+4years4 years], without prejudice to the applicant’s right to acquirerenounce either a physical one or both at the same timea digital one. The applicant should have the right to acquire at any time the format of the driving licence, which he or she initially renounced. A discretionary approach should remain the rule, while ensuring that applicants have equal access to the physical and mobile format from an economic and operational perspective. Opting for a physical driving licence should therefore be in no way discouraged, and in particular, applicants who are unable or unwilling to acquire a mobile driving licence should continue to have access to a physical driving licence. Member States should ensure that the physical driving licence is issued or reissued without undue delay and no later than within 2 weeks from the date it was requested. [Am. 9]

Removed:(11) The mobile driving licence should not only contain the information reported on the physical driving licence, but also information allowing to verifyenabling the authenticity of the data and a single-use pointer to be verified. However it should be ensured that even in such cases the amount of personal data made available is restricted to what would be reported on the physical driving licence and what is strictly necessary for the verification of the authenticity of such data, in particular the electronic signature of the issuing authority. That additional data should be different in case a person holds several mobile driving licences, which is possible provided that they are issued by the same Member State. [Am. 10]

Removed:(12) The Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy sets out a vision for the EU to significantly improve sustainability of mobility and transport. Emissions from the road transport sector include greenhouse gases emissions, air pollutants, noise and microplastics from tyre and road wear. A greater presence of alternatively fuelled vehicles is key to the green transition. The possibility of new models of a greater weight being available in driving licence categories B, C or D should be taken into consideration in this Directive. Driving style influences these emissions, with possible negative impacts on the environment and human health. Therefore, driving training and testing should equip drivers to reduce their impact on emissions, including through eco-driving, as well as to prepare them to drive zero-emissionzero or low-emission vehicles. [Am. 11]

Removed:(13) In order to allow citizens and residents to directly enjoy the benefits of the internal market without incurring an unnecessary additional administrative burden, Regulation (EU) 2018/1724 of the European Parliament and the Council provides for access to online procedures relevant for the functioning of the internal market, including for cross-border users. The information covered by this Directive is already covered in Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2018/1724. Annex II to that Regulation should be amended as to assure that any requester benefits from fully online procedures.

Removed:(13a) The national or regional differences regarding the categorisation of ambulances and the categories of licences needed to drive such vehicles pose the risk of disrupting cross-border circulation or circulation within the same Member State. Ambulances should therefore be subject to a special treatment under this Directive. It should therefore be allowed to drive ambulances with driving licence of category B throughout the Union, provided the authorised mass of the ambulance does not exceed 4 250 kg, 2 years after a driving licence for category B was issued for the first time. [Am. 12]

Removed:(14) Driving licences should be categorised according to the types of vehicles they provide the right to drive to. This should be done in a clear and coherent manner and in full respect of the technical characteristics of the vehicles concerned and the skills needed to drive them.

Removed:(14a) Individual means of transport play a key role in fulfilling the mobility needs of millions of European citizens, particularly in rural areas and for persons with reduced mobility. Nevertheless, in some instances the affordability of a driving licence is a barrier. Member States should consider developing appropriate infrastructure in urban, peri-urban and rural areas necessary to reduce road accidents and traffic congestion, as well as targeted policies and support schemes for those at risk of transport poverty. [Am. 13]

Removed:(15) In accordance with United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities of 13 December 2006, to which the EU has been a Party since 21 January 2011, specific provisions should be adopted to make it easier for persons with disabilities to drive vehicles. Moreover, persons with reduced mobility, regardless of their ability to drive a vehicle need to enjoy their mobility rights in order to prevent transport poverty. Giving effect to those mobility rights could entail the use of adapted individual or collective vehicles, including special features or equipment, and appropriate infrastructure, including in rural areas. As such, with the prior agreement of the Commission, Member States should be allowed to exclude from the application of Article 6 certain specific types of power-driven vehicles. [Am. 14]

Removed:(16) The minimum ages of applicants for the different categories of driving licences should be set at Union level. Nevertheless, Member States should be allowed to set a higher age limit for the driving of certain categories of vehicles in order to further promote road safety. Member States should inbe allowed on exceptional circumstances be allowedbasis to set lower age limits in order to take account of national circumstances. In particular, to allow the driving of fire service, civil protection and public order maintenance related vehicles or pilot projects related to new vehicle technologies. [Am. 15]

Removed:(16a) Active mobility, which includes walking and the use of bicycles or electric bikes and other light means of transport such as e-scooters, is becoming increasingly popular given the green transition. Their users are more frequently entering the European roads and sharing them with other individual means of transport. Youngest users, who are increasingly using particularly e-scooters often use them without a proper knowledge of the applicable norms as they have not yet acquired a driving licence for any category. This is resulting in increasing numbers of accidents in which e-scooters are involved, with both pedestrians and users of e-scooters as main victims. Given overall road safety challenges, Member States should introduce in their school curricula age-appropriate traffic rules and risk awareness training, with a view to improve road safety. That should ensure widespread comprehensive knowledge of safety measures, such as seat belts and helmet use, and in particular the traffic participation of vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians, cyclists or e-scooters, and the safe interaction with motorised vehicles. Member States could introduce further measures and schemes for users of personal mobility vehicles with a view to decrease traffic accidents, improve road safety rules and risk awareness. [Am. 16]