A majority of the European Parliament would like to enforce driving bans across the EU in the future. As the EU Parliament in Strasbourg also announced, exceeding the speed of 50 kilometers per hour can lead to the revocation of your driving license. According to the information, the MPs want to expand this so that in residential areas your driver’s license can be lost if you drive 30 km/h too fast. If an EU state has issued a driving ban, it should be clear within 25 days at the latest whether the ban applies EU-wide or not.
If a German is forbidden to drive in Italy, for example, he is currently still allowed to get behind the wheel in Germany. “So far, a driving ban currently only applies in the country in which it was issued,” said the ADAC. A uniform regulation would contribute to road safety.
It will take some time before new requirements can apply
Before new rules can come into force, a compromise must be negotiated with the EU states. However, the member states have not yet found a position on the project. Negotiations will only begin after a new parliament is elected in the summer. After such an agreement on a directive, the member states usually have around two years to implement the requirements into national law.
MPs now want driving without a valid license to be added to the list of serious traffic violations – just like drunk driving or fatal traffic accidents. This means that information about the withdrawal of the driving license is automatically shared with the EU state that issued the driving license.
Disagreement over the EU-wide points system
The project was welcomed across all political groups. The SPD MEP Thomas Rudner emphasized that dangerous parking, dangerous overtaking, crossing a solid line and hit-and-run are also recorded and should lead to a driving ban. He also refers to figures from the EU Commission that around 40 percent of cross-border traffic violations go unpunished. The aim is to reduce the number of traffic deaths.
EU Parliament Vice-President Jan-Christoph Oetjen said: “Anyone who commits a serious violation of the road traffic regulations in one country has forfeited their right to drive in the EU.” According to the FDP politician, it is important that violations are uniform and clearly defined.
There are different views on the details. The CSU MEP Markus Ferber believes the plan is correct, because it is impossible to explain that the revocation of a driving license in the EU does not work across borders. But he also advocates that new rules should only apply to serious traffic violations that endanger lives and that there should not be an EU-wide points system based on the German model.
However, German Green MP Anna Deparnay-Grunenberg would like to see such a system. All member states should commit to this, she said. She also supports the EU-wide withdrawal of driving licenses.
Different rules in other EU countries
In Germany, according to the ADAC, you can expect to be banned from driving for a month if you drive more than 30 km/h too fast in urban areas. The rag can also be lost because of a violation of the 0.5 alcohol limit or the consumption of illegal drugs.
In Italy, according to ADAC, you have to hand in your driving license immediately and are only allowed to drive to your holiday destination and home if you are driving more than 41 km/h too fast. According to the Austrian government, the limit for a driving ban there is if you have driven more than 40 km/h too fast in urban areas or 50 km/h outside of urban areas. The same thing can happen when driving wrong-way on the motorway, hit-and-run or when the safety distance is too small. If you drink alcohol above 0.8 per mille, you can expect a driving ban.
