European driving licence

The first step to a European driving licence was taken on 4 December 1980, when the Council of Ministers adopted Council Directive 80/1263/EEC on the introduction of a Community driving licence, which established a Community model national licence that guaranteed the mutual recognition by the Member States of national licences. It also established the practice of exchange of licences by holders moving from one Member State to another.

Examples of the paper and plastic card models in 91/439/EEC

Directive 91/439/EEC

European Union directive
Title	Council Directive on driving licences
Made by	Council of the European Union
Made under	Art. 75 TEC
Journal reference	L237, pp 1–24
History
Date made	29 July 1991
Came into force	24 August 1991
Implementation date	1 July 1996
Other legislation
Replaces	Directive 80/1263/EEC
Replaced by	Directive 2006/126/EC
Repealed

On 29 July 1991, the Council of Ministers adopted the Council of the European Union Directive 91/439/EEC on driving licences. The directive required EU Member States to adopt laws implementing the directive before 1 July 1994, which took effect on 1 July 1996. Directive 80/1263/EEC was repealed on the same date.

Directive 91/439/EEC was incorporated into the EEA Agreement through Decision of the EEA Joint Committee No 7/94 of 21 March 1994,[2] and specified driving licence in the European Union and the European Economic Area until its repeal on 19 January 2013.

The Council of the European Union Directive 91/439/EEC harmonised the categories of driving licences among the Member States and established two Community driving licence models, one paper version and one plastic card version. It furthermore established an obligatory test of knowledge (theory) and a test of skills and behaviour (practical) which had to be successfully passed before an individual is offered a driving licence. It also required an applicant to meet the minimum standards of physical and mental fitness to drive. The directive specified the minimum ages for driving different types of vehicles, and established progressive access in categories A, C, and D, from light vehicles to larger or more powerful vehicles. The directive stipulated that it is mandatory to have the normal residence in the Member State issuing the licence.[3]

The Directive was substantially amended by nine directives and two acts of accession. The plastic card version of the Community licence model, for example, was added to the Directive by Council Directive 96/47/EC of 23 July 1996.[4]

Directive 2006/126/EC

European Union directive
Text with EEA relevance
Title	Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on driving licences (Recast)
Made by	European Parliament & Council
Made under	Art. 71 TEC
Journal reference	L403, pp. 18–60
History
Date made	30 December 2006
Came into force	19 January 2007
Implementation date	19 January 2013
Other legislation
Replaces	Directive 91/439/EEC
Current legislation

In March 2006, the Council of Ministers adopted a Directive proposed by the European Commission to create a single European driving licence to replace the 110 different models in existence throughout the EU/EEA at the time.[5][6] The European Parliament adopted the Directive in December 2006.[7] Directive 2006/126/EEC was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 30 December 2006.[8] Its provisions took effect on 19 January 2013; Directive 91/439/EEC was then concurrently repealed.

The licence is a credit-card-style, single plastic-coated document, very difficult to counterfeit. The document is renewable every 10 or 15 years depending on the member state. Several member states have the option to include a microchip containing information about the card holder on the card.

Some categories like C and D are issued for five years only. After expiration, a medical check-up is necessary in order to renew the licence for another five years.

The EEA (blue and green)

The provisions of Directive 2006/126/EC mention that it has European Economic Area (EEA) relevance, meaning that its provisions apply to all 27 EU member states, as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway, through incorporation into the agreement on the EEA.[9]

The Directive was incorporated into the EEA agreement through Decision of the EEA Joint committee No 29/2008 of 14 March 2008 amending Annex XIII (Transport) to the EEA Agreement.[10] The Decision made some adaptions to the directive, notably: the distinguishing sign issuing the licence is encircled by an ellipse instead of being printed on the European flag, the words "driving licence" in Icelandic and Norwegian languages were added, and the words “European Communities model” were replaced by “EEA model”.[10]

Although Switzerland is a member state of EFTA, it is not a contracting party of EEA Agreement. Switzerland is instead linked to the EU by a series of bilateral agreements and has generally adopted much of the harmonised EU legislation with regard to driving licences. Switzerland has used categories similar to the EU system of vehicle categories since the 2000s, and Swiss driving licences resemble EEA-style credit-card licences, comparable to other non-EU/EEA European countries.

The directive stipulated that all 31 EEA members states must have adopted laws implementing the directive no later than 19 January 2011. Those laws took effect in all EEA members states on 19 January 2013. All licences issued before that date will become invalid by 2033.

Directive 2006/126/EC applied to the United Kingdom until the transition period after the UK withdrew from the EU terminated on 31 December 2020, as EU law continued to apply to the UK during this period.[11]

From 1 January 2021, European licences are recognized by the UK if the driving test was passed in an EU/EEA country, and can be used both if the holder is visiting or if residing in the UK. They can also be exchanged for a UK driving licence.[12][13]

UK driving licences can be used when visiting EU/EEA countries with some exceptions.[14][15][16] International Driving Permits might be needed in some cases. Depending on which convention the country in question has ratified, a 1949 IDP (Geneva Convention on Road Traffic) might be required in some EEA countries, and a 1968 IDP (Vienna Convention on Road Traffic) in others. However, none of the EEA countries currently require IDPs for visitors staying shorter than 12 months.[17]

^aSuch as given names, local variations may occur.

^b4(d) is optional. In some countries the personal number is listed.

^cThe address is optional and not implemented by all countries

^dNorway[19] and Sweden:[20] a hyphen (-) is shown in lieu of place of birth.

ISO/IEC 18013-1:2018 extends the numbering of Directive 2006/126/EC to include other data fields (sex, height, weight, eye color, hair color) and is used by other countries such as Canada.