Elderly driving tests remain choice of EU Member States

With the Driving Licences and Driving Disqualifications Directives, which will be approved by the European Parliament today, the EPP Group is leading efforts to improve mobility, boost road safety, and reduce accidents across Europe. These new rules will make our roads safer for millions, save lives, and create consistent EU standards. The EPP Group made sure that the rules do not interfere with where Member States can act best.

“The new rules for driving licences strengthen driver training, responsibility, and safety. Key improvements include an EU-wide accompanied driving scheme, a mandatory two-year probationary period for novice drivers with stricter penalties for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs or not using safety belts and child-restraint systems,” said Elżbieta Łukacijewska MEP, the EPP Group’s lead negotiator on Driving Licences.  

“It’s up to each Member State to decide whether elderly drivers should take additional tests. We ensured that Member States retain full flexibility in assessing drivers’ fitness to drive – including through self-assessment – to avoid unnecessary red tape for citizens and healthcare systems,” she added.  

Under the new Driving Disqualifications Directive, only serious offences such as excessive speeding, drunk or drug-impaired driving, causing death or serious injury through road offences, and hit-and-run incidents, will now lead to temporary or permanent loss of driving privileges across the EU.  

“This reform closes loopholes that allowed drivers to commit serious traffic offences abroad without consequences at home. From now on, a disqualification resulting from a serious offence in one Member State will apply across the Union,” said Markus Ferber MEP, the EPP Group’s lead negotiator on Driving Disqualifications.  

“For us, it was important to focus only on the most serious traffic offenders, to avoid holidaymakers facing drastic consequences for being unaware of local rules. We opposed the idea of an EU-wide demerit point system, as most Member States already have effective national regimes. Such a system would require harmonising national laws, raise privacy concerns, and face major legal hurdles,” Ferber stressed.