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New EU driving licence rules: when the digital licence, driving at 17 and the 4.25-tonne limit apply

2 published versions. Every version stays readable at its own address, and nothing is removed without a correction note.

  1. Version 2Current · development

    Adds what happens to old German licences after their exchange deadline, where Germany's accompanied-driving certificate is valid, and the new EU code 98.02 for drivers at 17.

    • Confirmed: Under German law, a licence issued before 19 January 2013 must be exchanged by the date in that timetable, and after the deadline the licence document loses its validity. German licence cards issued since 19 January 2013 are valid for 15 years.
    • Confirmed: Germany's accompanied-driving certificate serves as proof of the licence only within Germany, until three months after the holder turns 18.
    • Confirmed: Under the new EU rules, licences for accompanied driving at 17 carry Union code 98.02, meaning the holder must follow the scheme's conditions until 18. EU countries may add conditions of their own and must tell the Commission, which publishes them.
    • Source added: § 24a FeV - Einzelnorm (Gesetze im Internet (Federal Ministry of Justice))
  2. Version 1 · created

    Record created.

    • Timeline added: Every driving licence issued in the EU since 19 January 2013 uses the same credit-card-sized plastic format.
    • Timeline added: The European Commission proposed new driving licence rules in March 2023, including a digital licence valid across the EU and online replacement, renewal and exchange.
    • Timeline added: The European Parliament adopted its first-reading position in February 2024.
    • Timeline added: Parliament and Council negotiators reached a provisional agreement on the new rules in March 2025, which the Commission welcomed.
    • Timeline added: The Council adopted its first-reading position in September 2025, and Parliament gave final approval in October 2025.
    • Timeline added: Directive (EU) 2025/2205 on driving licences and Directive (EU) 2025/2206 on driving disqualifications are both dated 22 October 2025 and were published in the Official Journal in November 2025.
    • Timeline added: Both directives entered into force on 25 November 2025. Most of the new rules do not apply to drivers until national laws take them over.
    • Timeline added: Finland has notified its Driving Licence Act (386/2011) as last amended by Act 349/2026, notified on 28 May 2026, according to the same EU record.
    • Timeline added: The Commission published a draft of the implementing regulation on mobile driving licences on 15 June 2026. When this record was checked, the EU Publications Office still listed it as a draft that is not the Commission's final position, with no adopted act number.
    • Timeline added: Belgium has notified a national measure for the directive: a royal decree on the driving licence needed for hydrogen or electric vans, published in the Moniteur Belge on 24 June 2026, notified to the Commission in July 2026 and applying from 26 November 2027, according to the EU Publications Office's record of national transposition measures.
    • Confirmed: Every driving licence issued in the EU since 19 January 2013 uses the same credit-card-sized plastic format.
    • Confirmed: The European Commission proposed new driving licence rules in March 2023, including a digital licence valid across the EU and online replacement, renewal and exchange.
    • Confirmed: The European Parliament adopted its first-reading position in February 2024.
    • Confirmed: Parliament and Council negotiators reached a provisional agreement on the new rules in March 2025, which the Commission welcomed.
    • Confirmed: The Council adopted its first-reading position in September 2025, and Parliament gave final approval in October 2025.
    • Confirmed: Directive (EU) 2025/2205 on driving licences and Directive (EU) 2025/2206 on driving disqualifications are both dated 22 October 2025 and were published in the Official Journal in November 2025.
    • Confirmed: The Commission must adopt the technical rules for mobile driving licences, covering their look, security and data, by 26 November 2026.
    • Confirmed: A mobile licence in the EU Digital Identity Wallet becomes the default format 54 months after the first of those technical rules is adopted. You can still ask for a plastic card.
    • Confirmed: From 26 November 2027, a car (category B) licence held for two years also covers alternatively fuelled vehicles up to 4.25 tonnes, instead of the usual 3.5 tonnes. Motor caravans are excluded from this rule.
    • Confirmed: EU countries must pass their national laws for the rest of both directives by 26 November 2028.
    • Confirmed: Every physical licence issued or still in circulation must meet the new rules by 19 January 2033.
    • Confirmed: New drivers will have a probationary period of at least two years, with stricter rules or penalties for drink-driving than other drivers.
    • Confirmed: A car or motorcycle licence will be valid for 15 years, or 10 years where it also serves as an identity document. Lorry and bus licences are valid for five years. Countries may shorten validity for drivers aged 65 or over.
    • Confirmed: At minimum, drivers will fill in a self-assessment of their fitness to drive when a licence is issued and at each renewal, unless their country uses another assessment system.
    • Confirmed: A driving ban imposed in one EU country for a serious offence, such as speeding 50 km/h over the limit or drink- or drug-driving, will apply across the EU.
    • Confirmed: Licences that an EU country issued in exchange for a non-EU licence carry code 70 and other EU countries do not have to recognise them. The new rules allow EU-wide recognition for exchanges from non-EU countries the Commission and EU countries approve one by one.
    • Confirmed: If the country you live in does not offer translation or interpretation in your EU language, you may take your first car licence in your country of citizenship instead.
    • Confirmed: The Commission's implementation strategy for the two directives, dated July 2026, predicts the mobile licence will become the default format around the last quarter of 2030. It says the date could come earlier under a review clause.
    • Confirmed: The companion for accompanied driving must also not have had a driving ban in the country that issued their licence within the last five years.
    • Confirmed: Where the Directive's training or test condition is met, such an alternative-fuel vehicle may tow a trailer if the whole combination stays within 5 000 kg.
    • Confirmed: A category BE licence held for two years will also cover a combination of an alternative-fuel towing vehicle above 3 500 kg and up to 4 250 kg with a light trailer (categories O1 or O2).
    • Confirmed: Under the driving disqualifications directive, a ban imposed in another EU country is passed to the country that issued the licence only if it is final with no appeal left, lasts at least three months, has more than one month left to run, and the person was identified as the driver.
    • Confirmed: Belgium has notified a national measure for the directive: a royal decree on the driving licence needed for hydrogen or electric vans, published in the Moniteur Belge on 24 June 2026, notified to the Commission in July 2026 and applying from 26 November 2027, according to the EU Publications Office's record of national transposition measures.
    • Confirmed: Finland has notified its Driving Licence Act (386/2011) as last amended by Act 349/2026, notified on 28 May 2026, according to the same EU record.
    • Confirmed: When this source was checked, the EU Publications Office's record listed no national measures for the directive from any other EU country. The record can lag behind national publication.
    • Confirmed: The Commission's implementation strategy planned the implementing act on mobile driving licences for the third quarter of 2026, the act on the EU driving licence network for the fourth quarter of 2026, and the act on QR codes in physical licences for the third quarter of 2027.
    • Confirmed: Germany already runs its own accompanied-driving scheme: a B or BE licence issued under it carries the condition that the holder may drive only with at least one named companion, and the condition ends when the holder reaches the normal minimum age.
    • Confirmed: Germany's accompanied-driving rules for the companion are stricter than the EU minimum: the companion must be at least 30, must have held a car licence for at least five years, and may have no more than one point in the driving aptitude register when the licence is applied for.
    • Confirmed: Under the German rules the companion also may not accompany with 0,5 per mille or more alcohol in the blood, 3,5 ng/ml or more THC in blood serum, or under the effect of listed drugs.
    • Confirmed: In Germany, licences issued before 19 January 2013 must be exchanged on a fixed timetable. For licences issued up to the end of 1998 it depends on the holder's birth year: born 1953 to 1958 by 19 July 2022, 1959 to 1964 by 19 January 2023, 1965 to 1970 by 19 January 2024, 1971 or later by 19 January 2025, and before 1953 by 19 January 2033.
    • Confirmed: For German licences issued from 1999 it depends on the year of issue: 1999 to 2001 by 19 January 2026, 2002 to 2004 by 19 January 2027, 2005 to 2007 by 19 January 2028, then one year at a time up to 2012 and early 2013 by 19 January 2033. Holders born before 1953 have until 19 January 2033 whatever the year of issue.
    • Confirmed: The Commission published a draft of the implementing regulation on mobile driving licences on 15 June 2026. When this record was checked, the EU Publications Office still listed it as a draft that is not the Commission's final position, with no adopted act number.
    • Source added: Driving licence (European Commission (incl. Travel to Europe: ETIAS and EES))
    • Source added: European Commission proposes updated requirements for driving licences and better cross-border enforcement of road traffic rules (European Commission (incl. Travel to Europe: ETIAS and EES))
    • Source added: Directive (EU) 2025/2205 on driving licences, Official Journal of the European Union (Publications Office of the European Union)
    • Source added: The Commission welcomes provisional agreement on modernised driving licences rules (European Commission (incl. Travel to Europe: ETIAS and EES))
    • Source added: Directive (EU) 2025/2206 on Union-wide effects of driving disqualifications, Official Journal of the European Union (Publications Office of the European Union)
    • Source added: Modernised EU rules on driving licences and driving disqualifications enter into force (European Commission (incl. Travel to Europe: ETIAS and EES))
    • Source added: Implementation strategy of Directive (EU) 2025/2205 on driving licences and Directive (EU) 2025/2206 on certain driving disqualifications (European Commission (incl. Travel to Europe: ETIAS and EES))
    • Source added: National measures notified for Directive (EU) 2025/2205 (EU Publications Office database) (Publications Office of the European Union)
    • Source added: § 48a FeV - Einzelnorm (Gesetze im Internet (Federal Ministry of Justice))
    • Source added: Anlage 8e FeV - Einzelnorm (Gesetze im Internet (Federal Ministry of Justice))
    • Source added: EU Publications Office record: draft Commission implementing regulation on mobile driving licences (Ares(2026)6096343) (Publications Office of the European Union)