On Thursday 26 October, members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Transport and Tourism (TRAN) examined the amendments to the draft report on driving disqualifications with Union-wide effects (see EUROPE 13252/9). Six compromise amendments have already been agreed, but some points are still open to debate.
In all, 98 amendments were tabled in addition to the 33 in the draft report. Thomas Rudner (S&D, German), speaking on behalf of the rapporteur, Petar Vitanov (S&D, Bulgarian), listed the points on which the negotiators had already reached an agreement. MEPs, therefore, want Member States to align their decisions within the existing legal limits of national rules.
They also want to introduce a period of 10 working days during which the Member State must notify the offence to the Member State that issued the defendant’s driving licence so that the necessary procedures can be set in motion for the driving disqualification to take effect at the EU level. They also want the person who committed the offence to be informed within this timeframe.
They also agreed that the text should provide for transmitting the certificate and exchanging other required information between Member States’ national contact points via the European driving licence network ‘RESPER’.
They also want to improve the proposed exemption for speeding on the condition that a distinction is made between residential and non-residential areas and that limits are clearly indicated on urban and suburban roads. Finally, they would like to include statistics from the Member States on the use of the mechanism and areas for improvement.
However, some points are still being debated. Tilly Metz (Greens/EFA, Luxembourgish) and Elena Kountoura (The Left, Greek) opposed the exemption for speeding under 50 km/h. “Driving at 58 km/h in 30 km/h zones is unacceptable”, said Ms Metz.
Markus Ferber (EPP, German), on the other hand, defended the exemption, citing “legal difficulties”, particularly in Germany. “Someone travelling abroad and driving a short distance in an urban area might find it difficult to know how fast to drive”, he argued.
He also spoke out against the European Commission’s introduction of a points-based driving licence at the European level: “this goes beyond Community competence”, he argued. This view was shared by Peter Lundgren (ECR, Swedish) and Roman Haider (ID, Austrian).
Ms Metz, on the other hand, praised the merits of such a system, in particular its “strong dissuasive and educational effect”. She suggested creating a European cross-border cooperation and information system.
The vote will take place at the end of November.
Read the proposed amendments: https://aeur.eu/f/9ax (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)