On Monday 18 September, members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Transport and Tourism (TRAN) discussed the draft report by Petar Vitanov (S&D, Bulgarian) on driving disqualifications with EU-wide effects. They all agreed that the European Commission’s proposal needed to be strengthened.
For Mr Vitanov, the success of this directive “depends on cooperation on the one hand, and on the smooth and timely flow of information between Member States on the other”. In his draft, he amended the text to improve the deadlines for the important stages of the procedure. Izaskun Bilbao Barandica (Renew Europe, Spanish) supported this idea, saying that “clearer deadlines should be set out in the proposal and a clear procedure should be established”.
The rapporteur also proposed synchronising the duration of disqualifications within the framework of existing restrictions, in order to “align as closely as possible the different laws and penalties in force in the Member States”. Some MEPs have come out in favour of a uniform points-based licence. “There are different points systems between countries, so there is no cooperation, but this should not depend on a single Member State”, stressed Tilly Metz (Greens/EFA, Luxembourgish).
The Commission representative explained that, given the major differences, “we must try to keep the scope of application as simple as possible, so that it remains a deterrent”.
Mr Vitanov also suggested modifying a number of exemptions, in particular removing the one concerning disqualification based on speeding in zones limited to 50 km/h or less. Ms Metz wanted to remove another: the exemption for diplomatic vehicles. Andor Deli (NI, Hungarian), for his part, would like to extend the scope to include hit-and-run offences and people without driving licences. The latter would then be banned from taking out or renewing their driving licences.
Finally, the rapporteur proposed putting in place the appropriate tools - the improvement and in-depth adaptation of the existing system for the exchange of communications between Member States - the European Union Driving Licence Network (‘RESPER’). “RESPER is to be the cornerstone of this proposal, therefore the Rapporteur considers it should be the sole means for all information transactions between the Member States, also in view of the tightened timeframes presented in this draft report”, he said in the explanatory memorandum. This proposal has also been approved by the Commission.
The deadline for tabling of amendments is Thursday 21 September.
The EU Council is still working on the directive (see EUROPE 13187/12).
Read the draft report: https://aeur.eu/f/8n8 (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)