Digital driving licences, cross-border fines and tougher tests for learner drivers - can the latest EU reform bridge the gap between Europe's safest and deadliest roads? This is the question asked by the European Newsroom, a platform for cooperation between agencies from 23 European countries.
Road deaths in the European Union reached 20,000 last year, with the political bloc determined to significantly reduce this number by 2050.
As part of their latest initiative to reduce road deaths, European lawmakers this week adopted new rules on driving licences across the EU, including the introduction of digital driving licences and cross-border fines.
"Reform is needed because the world has changed", said Jutta Paulus, MEP from the German Green Movement, who is also rapporteur on the same file in the European Parliament. "We need to reduce the current 20,000 road deaths per year and this reform is part of the legislative package," she added.
The reform is part of the Road Safety Package, with which the EU aims to achieve its "Vision Zero" goal. - zero deaths and serious injuries on the roads by 2050. The target set in 2018 was to halve the number of road fatalities by 2030 compared to 2019, but the EU is still far from achieving it.
According to the latest figures from the European Commission, 19,940 people lost their lives in road accidents in 2024, a 2% decrease compared to 2023 and a 12% decrease compared to 2019.
Uneven improvement in road safety in the EU
Per capita, the safest roads are in Sweden (20 deaths per million inhabitants), Malta (21 per million) and Denmark (24 per million), while Romania (78 per million) and Bulgaria (74 per million) lead the way. highest road fatalities in 2024. Germany, which recorded 33 fatalities per million inhabitants, is also below the EU average of 45 fatalities per million inhabitants.
Poland recorded the largest drop in road fatalities last year, with 52 deaths per million inhabitants, among all EU member states since 2019, thus achieving a 35% reduction, according to Commission data. In 2019, the number of road fatalities in Poland was 77 per million inhabitants, according to the European Road Safety Observatory.
Slovenia recorded a total of 68 road fatalities last year (32 per million inhabitants), and the Slovenian Road Safety Agency reported an 11% increase in the number of road accidents with serious injuries, as well as a 12% increase in the number of victims of such accidents compared to 2023. The country's road safety program has set ambitious targets for 2030 - to reduce the total annual number of road fatalities to a maximum of 50, and the number of seriously injured in road accidents to a maximum of 400.
On the other side of the continent, Spain recorded 37 road fatalities per million inhabitants. According to the Directorate General of Transport, which deals with road safety in Spain, distracted driving accounts for 30% of road deaths and remains the main cause of accidents, especially those involving the use of phones.
In neighboring Portugal, the rate is 58 road fatalities per million inhabitants. To reduce accidents among older age groups, driving regulations in Portugal require periodic renewal of driving licenses, for example from the age of 50, with renewal intervals decreasing as the driver's age increases. Specific rules have also been introduced for driving mopeds and agricultural vehicles.
What's new for EU drivers?
The new rules, approved by MEPs, introduce stricter conditions for obtaining and renewing driving licences, encourage the exchange of information between member states on serious traffic offenders and encourage the introduction of digital driving documents.
The most radical change foresees that serious road traffic offences could lead to a driving ban across the EU. Currently, penalties are usually limited to the country where the offence was committed.
At this stage, around 40% of drivers with a suspended or banned driving licence in a country other than the one that issued the licence go unpunished, said Italian MEP Matteo Ricci from the Socialists and Democrats group in the European Parliament.
However, MEP Markus Ferber from the European People's Party group clarified that the ban on driving within the EU would not apply to tourists who have received a light fine for not knowing the local rules.
Contrary to earlier discussions, there will be no mandatory medical examinations for people over a certain age. EU member states can decide for themselves whether to require a medical certificate or a self-assessment form for driving licences for cars and motorcycles.
"Each member state will decide whether to introduce additional tests for older drivers. "We have ensured that Member States retain full flexibility in assessing driving ability to avoid unnecessary bureaucracy for citizens and healthcare systems," said Polish MEP Elżbieta Łukaczewska (European People's Party).
The bill also aims to tackle the shortage of skilled workers in the transport sector. The minimum age for issuing a truck driving licence will be reduced from 21 to 18 years, and the minimum age for bus drivers will be reduced from 24 to 21 years.
The new provisions also establish a maximum validity period of 15 years for car and motorcycle driving licences, which can be reduced to 10 years in countries where the driving licence serves as an identity document.
And what changes for future drivers?
Those wishing to obtain a driving licence will face new instructions. More attention will be paid to topics such as distraction caused by mobile phone use, blind spots and driver assistance systems. More attention will also be paid to interaction with pedestrians, children and cyclists in the courses.
Personnel driving, which allows young drivers to start driving at an earlier age, as long as they are accompanied by a more experienced adult, will be expanded across the EU.
Young drivers will also be subject to a two-year probationary period, during which they will be subject to stricter rules and penalties than those for experienced drivers.
In Sweden, teenagers feared that the new rules would ban the so-called A-tractor, which has a speed limit of 30 km/h and is popular in regions with little public transport. However, the new rules include the new B1 car, which will effectively replace the A-tractor when the new rules are implemented, and even allow cars to travel at up to 45 km/h.
In a country like the Netherlands, where bicycles outnumber people, bicycle accidents are a major problem, prompting outgoing Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management Robert Thiemann to propose a multi-year plan for bicycle safety.
The number of bicycle accidents in the Netherlands is expected to rise significantly by 2040 if current bicycle policy remains unchanged. Cyclists account for 39% of all road deaths in the country, and 70% of those injured in such accidents are seriously injured. Two-thirds of this group are over 60 years old.
If the outgoing government achieves its goal, municipalities will be allowed to experiment with maximum or permitted speed limits on cycle paths next year. They will also be able to examine whether moving electric cargo bikes used for transporting goods from the cycle path to the carriageway would improve road safety.
Tiemann also wants to introduce a mandatory helmet requirement for children under 18 who ride e-bikes, such as fat-tire bikes, citing the increasing number of young people who end up in hospital emergency rooms with concussions after accidents.
Driving licenses ready for the future?
The reform also aims to accelerate the digitalization of driving licenses, with the EU aiming to make digital the main format, although European citizens will also be able to request a physical copy.
In Germany, the Association for Technical Inspections warned that "there is still a lot of work to be done" on the digitalization of driving licenses. The main obstacle is the different software systems used by the authorities of the member states. However, a spokesman for the Federal Ministry of Transport said that the department aims to make digital books available by the end of next year.
On the other hand, in Bulgaria, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Communications Grozdan Karadjov said on Wednesday that the country is now ready to introduce digital driver's licenses. According to him, the Ministry of e-Government is already developing such a system. The minister noted that all requirements under the EU directive will be implemented in a timely manner.
The new rules will enter into force on the twentieth day after their publication in the Official Journal of the EU, and member states will have three years to incorporate the new rules into their legislation and another year to implement them in practice.
Translated from English: Nikolay Dzhambazov, BTA