Pan-EU driving licence plan gets parliament nod

[Menydh]

Pan-EU driving licence plan gets parliament nod

Reuters
February 24, 2005

STRASBOURG, France (Reuters) - A proposal to create one common, plastic driving licence for the European Union has accelerated after the EU Parliament voted to streamline more than 100 licences used in the 25-nation bloc. A majority of parliament members decided the paper documents still used in some member states should be replaced by a "credit card" model within 10 years followed by a single EU licence within the next 20 years, the parliament said in a statement on Wednesday.

"We now have one driving licence instead of 110 different types. Legal certainty is guaranteed, mobility increased, and anti-fraud increased," Mathieu Grosch, who spearheaded the proposal in parliament, told reporters after the vote.

The plan, drafted by the executive Commission, must now go back to EU transport ministers for discussion before coming before parliament again.

Some issues have to be ironed out, according to one EU diplomat, including rules for mopeds, motorbikes and trailers, and problems with so-called "drivers-licence tourism" where citizens whose licences have been revoked in one state seek to obtain one in another.

In October, EU transport ministers gave their initial backing to a common driving licence that is updated every 10 years. The common drivers' licence is meant to improve safety on European roads, cut down on fraud and simplify law enforcement within the union.


[source]