European LawTraffic Law
With the European Parliament's decision of 21 October 2025, the European Union enters a new phase in the harmonisation of driving licence law. The modernised driving licence directive, whose final version has been confirmed by the Council, marks the most profound reform since 2006. At its core is not merely the introduction of the digital driving licence, but a broader paradigm shift: away from purely national administrative practice and towards a uniform, digitally interconnected European system of driver identification, control and sanctioning.
Member States are given three years to transpose the directive and a further year to introduce the technical systems. By the end of 2029, all central provisions are to be incorporated into national law.
The centrepiece of the reform is the mobile Driving Licence, or mDL. In future, it will be provided through the European Digital Identity Wallet, the EUDI Wallet, a uniform EU-wide digital identity instrument already intended for identity cards, academic records and professional certificates. The driving licence thus becomes part of a supranational identity architecture in which the holder can present entitlements electronically while retaining control over personal data.
The centrepiece of the reform is the mobile Driving Licence, or mDL.
The legal basis lies in Article 10 et seq. of the new directive, which expressly refers to the technical standard ISO/IEC 18013-5 and to the eIDAS Regulation (EU) No 910/2014. The aim is EU-wide interoperability and the guarantee of the highest standards of security and data protection. Member States are required to issue the digital licence, but the physical card remains available as an equivalent alternative.
The directive's data protection approach is strikingly modern. Only the data strictly necessary to verify driving entitlement may be processed. The driver decides which data are disclosed, a principle of selective disclosure that corresponds to the European understanding of informational self-determination. Authorities receive only temporary access to authenticity features; central storage of sensitive personal data is expressly excluded. The mDL thus also becomes a testing ground for future digital administrative practice in Europe.
Parallel to digitalisation, the directive for the first time harmonises probationary period rules. Under Article 7(5), all Member States must in future provide for a probationary phase of at least two years for novice drivers. During this period, infringements of fundamental traffic obligations, especially alcohol and drug use, disregard of seat-belt rules and the use of mobile devices, are to be sanctioned more strictly.
In this way, the European legislature responds to the statistically disproportionate involvement of young drivers in traffic accidents. Harmonisation is intended both to have a preventive effect and to facilitate mobility within the Union, because recognition of probationary periods and accompanying driving entitlements will no longer break down at national borders. Nevertheless, the Member States retain room for stricter rules, such as Germany's already existing zero-alcohol rule for drivers under the age of 21.
Particularly far-reaching is the new regime for cross-border driving bans. Until now, national withdrawal decisions effectively stopped at the border; in future, they are to extend across the Union. If a driver is deprived of a licence or suspended in one Member State, the issuing State must be informed and must recognise that decision within its own territory.
This obligation of recognition applies only to serious offences, in particular drink-driving and drug-driving, fatal traffic accidents, substantial speeding offences or driving without entitlement. Less serious infringements, such as parking or toll violations, remain subject to national administrative law.
For implementation, the directive provides for a central electronic register through which data on bans and withdrawals are exchanged between authorities. This system builds on the existing cross-border enforcement directive (EU) 2015/413, but goes one decisive step further: it partially shifts enforcement authority towards the Union level and establishes a preliminary stage of a European traffic register.
For national law, this represents a considerable challenge. Both Germany and Italy will need to adapt their driving licence law, data protection law and administrative procedure law in order to ensure the proper interaction of information exchange, legal protection and fundamental-rights protection.
The directive also introduces further harmonisation in formal terms. For car and motorcycle licences, validity will in future be 15 years, although Member States may reduce it to 10 years where the licence is also used as an identity document. For classes C and D, lorries and buses, the five-year validity period remains unchanged.
Noteworthy is the departure from a Union-wide obligation to undergo a medical examination from a certain age onward. Member States may instead choose between classic health checks and self-assessment systems. The EU thereby preserves the principle of proportionality: it refrains from general age discrimination and leaves the concrete design to national authorities. At the same time, it becomes possible to shorten validity from the age of 65 or to make it conditional upon additional evidence, a compromise between safety requirements and administrative practicability.
The reform also affects the structure of driving licence classes. In future, holders of Class B licences may, after supplementary training, drive vehicles up to 4.25 tonnes, which is particularly relevant for the rapidly growing market in larger motorhomes. For voluntary work, for example in the fire service or civil protection, a special rule may apply up to 5 tonnes.
Professional drivers in turn benefit from a differentiated age structure. It will become possible to obtain a lorry licence from the age of 18 and a bus licence from the age of 21, provided the relevant qualifications are demonstrated. The directive thereby responds directly to the shortage of drivers in many Member States, without lowering the requirements of training and safety.
Formally, the directive enters into force twenty days after its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. Germany and Italy then have until the end of 2029 to transpose the new provisions into national law. In Germany, this will require extensive amendments to driving licence law and road traffic legislation as well as integration of the mDL systems into the existing eID infrastructure.
In Italy, amendments to the Codice della Strada and to the data protection legislation, Legislative Decree No. 196/2003, will be particularly relevant. In both countries, the technical implementation of the digital driving licence is likely to require substantial investment in IT security and administrative organisation. Until full implementation, all existing licences remain valid.
The driving licence reform of 2025 exemplifies the transformation of European administrative law into the age of digital interoperability. It combines substantive harmonisation with technical integration and for the first time creates the possibility of a licence withdrawal decision with effect across the Union.
At the same time, open questions remain. The data protection framework will depend decisively on how national implementation limits access to mDL data and how effectively the citizen's informational self-determination is guaranteed. It also remains unclear to what extent Union-wide data exchange through ban registers will satisfy the requirements of fundamental-rights protection.
Acceptance of the digital format is likewise not self-evident. Experience with electronic health records and digital identity shows that technological solutions are effective only if they are trustworthy, user-friendly and safeguarded by the rule of law.
Nevertheless, the step is consistent. The EU is linking road safety, digitalisation and internal-market integration into a coherent reform project. For lawyers, administrative practitioners and policy advisers, a new field is emerging in which traffic law, data protection and European administrative law intersect in previously unknown ways.