During the meeting of the ‘Land Transport’ group on Wednesday 24 May, the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU presented a new compromise on EU-wide driving disqualifications.
Presented in March by the European Commission (see EUROPE 13132/1), this measure aims to extend to European level a driving licence disqualification in case of an accident or serious offence, which until now has been applicable only in the Member State that issued the licence in question.
In the compromise proposal, to which EUROPE has had access, the Presidency has suggested raising the minimum threshold. Thus, the obligation to notify a driving disqualification would apply to disqualifications lasting two months or more, instead of one month.
The Presidency also proposed to amend the information contained in the certificate, adding, inter alia, “the measurement method used to establish the offence and the results of the measurement at the time of the offence”. The Member State in which the driver lives should also inform the other Member States if the driver has appealed the decision in its jurisdiction.
The Presidency also added a ground for exemption: “In exceptional situations, there are substantial grounds to believe, on the basis of specific and objective evidence, that the execution of the driving disqualification would, in the particular circumstances of the case, entail a breach of a fundamental Charter right”.
Finally, it proposed that at least six months before the date of transposition, the Commission should establish, by means of an implementing act, the format and content of the standard certificate for the notification of a driving disqualification and the format of the information to be provided.
Read the compromise: https://aeur.eu/f/71i (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)