Certain drivers will find it significantly easier with the EU's new driving license rules, as there will be no longer any mandatory medical check-up.
The EU drops the requirement for a mandatory medical check-up for the oldest drivers.
The proposal for regular health checks for seniors on the roads has been removed from the latest agreement on EU driving licence rules.
Although the European Commission originally proposed such a requirement, the agreement reached by the European Parliament and EU member states no longer includes the specific regulation aimed at older drivers.
And not even though the proposal has been part of the overall plan in the driving license area for more than a year.
Going forward, everyone who obtains a driving license in an EU country must either undergo a medical examination or submit a self-declaration about their health condition.
Denmark has already dropped the requirement for older drivers
After that, the driving license will be valid for 15 years. When a driving license is to be renewed, individual EU countries will be able to decide for themselves whether to introduce a requirement for a medical check or not.
This means that some countries may choose to require a medical examination upon renewal, while others may waive it.
During the negotiations in Brussels, there was opposition to mandatory health tests for older drivers, including from Germany, which rejected the idea of introducing it nationally.
The issue of medical check-ups upon renewal therefore becomes a national issue. However, in Denmark, the medical check-up has already been abolished.
The reform in the driving license area does not just abolish the medical check-up of the oldest drivers in the union. A number of new requirements are also being introduced.
Among other things, all member states, similar to what Denmark already has, must have a digital driving license by 2030 at the latest. Sweden was otherwise against this. Read more about it here .
The digital driving license must be accessible via, for example, a smartphone. However, it will still be possible to apply for a physical driving license in credit card format as a supplement or alternative.
The final adoption of the legislative amendment still awaits formal approval from both the European Parliament and the European Council, which represent the Member States. Only once that approval is in place will the new rules enter into force.
In addition to the medical check, however, the member states could not agree to introduce laws on insane asylums based on the Danish model.
However, it has become the case that drivers who lose their driving license in one member state must automatically be disqualified in all other EU countries.
