Incoming EU legislation on driving licences is set to affect drivers with French licences, as the bloc looks to modernise documentation and improve road safety.
Older drivers are thought likely to be among those most affected, as stricter medical rules for obtaining or renewing a licence are among the plans.
However, the changes are wide-ranging.
The EU’s council and parliament have now agreed on the main points of a new driving licence directive, and communicated about its contents, however the precise text has yet to be finalised and publicised.
The new rules will update a previous directive dating back to 2006.
The EU says it is expected to be finally adopted by both bodies in the coming weeks. Member states including France would then have four years to put the rules into national law.
What will the new EU rules change?
One rule will see all member states required to provide licences to drivers in a digital format as the default option as part of a coming ‘EU Digital Identity Wallet’ scheme.
In future, it is planned that each state will have its own wallet app for secure storage of digital documents, which will be accepted throughout the EU (note that France already has a similar scheme, called France Identité, but at present it is only for French citizens).
Physical licences will in future only be available on request, it is planned.
Member states will also have to modernise driving tests to include, for example, training on safe phone usage and “advanced driver assistance systems and other automated technologies”. More awareness training of pedestrians, cyclists and other vulnerable road users will also be required.
The EU standard licence validity length would be increased from 10 years to 15, though states could choose to reduce it to 10 if the licence can also be used as a valid form of national identity (as is the case in France).
France’s are currently valid for 15 years (already permitted optionally), so this may not change.
EU states could, if they wish, require renewal to be more frequent for people aged 65 or more: however this is not new, as under current rules this is already permitted, from age 50 or more.
The choice to implement new validity periods will be up to individual governments.
Are mandatory medical tests incoming?
Debate has been ongoing in France over whether older drivers should have to pass medical tests in order to have their licences renewed.
Read more: Report older drivers who are potentially dangerous, prompts French prefect
The European Commission, which has welcomed the plans, states that “the fitness to drive of driving licence holders will in the future be more systematically checked” and “the new directive contains several provisions that aim at ascertaining whether a driver is still physically and mentally fit to drive.”
At a minimum, the states will have to ask drivers to fill out a self-assessment form on their fitness to drive when their licence is first issued or renewed – this is new.
However, as part of the preparations of this new directive, MEPs voted last year against the idea of mandatory medical checks.
Read more: EU parliament votes against mandatory medical visits for drivers
France will have the choice whether to implement anything stricter than a self-assessment form, but this appears unlikely based on its historical reluctance to do so.
We note that the existing EU rules already permit states to require medical tests for renewals if they wish to do so.
Exchanged driving licences will be recognised across the bloc
Another point of note relates to driving licence exchanges between EU and non-EU countries (such as a UK driving licence exchanged for a French one).
Currently, driving licences exchanged in this way are marked with a code ‘70’, to inform authorities that the licence has been exchanged.
These do not have to be recognised by other member states as valid if the holder moves to another EU state and applies for a licence there. This is because driving licence swaps are based on bilateral agreements.
Read more: UK driving licence exchange: Why is there a 70 on my new French one?
The new legislation “provides for the EU-wide recognition of EU licences issued in exchange for licences from specific third countries which have a road safety framework similar to the EU.”
The EU will decide on a country-by-country basis which licences this applies to, but it is likely those from the UK will be recognised.
It may not be the same for the US and Canada, where driving licences cannot always be exchanged in France due to different state/province rules.
Read more: Why are only some US states’ driving licences exchangeable for a French one?
What other changes are included?
A minimum two-year ‘probationary’ period for new drivers will be set, during which time they will be subject to stricter rules and sanctions in the whole EU – for example related to drink-driving or not wearing a seatbelt – in a bid to reduce road deaths (40% of fatal collisions involve drivers under 30).
In France, the period on a permis probatoire currently ranges from one and a half to three years, depending on how you learn to drive.
‘Accompanied driving’ schemes for learners should be standard across the EU for people aged 17 or more (France already offers one, from age 16), and states should also be able to propose a similar scheme for HGV licences, from age 17. HGV licences could be acquired from a minimum age of 18 instead of 21, allowing younger people to become lorry drivers.
New drivers who obtain a ‘B’ licence (the standard licence for cars) will automatically be able to drive an ‘alternative fuel’ vehicle (eg. electric or biogas) with a maximum weight of 4.25 tonnes, up from 3.5 tonnes currently.
This is aimed at helping the logistics sector, increasing electric vehicle uptake (these are heavier due to large batteries) and providing the right to drive emergency vehicles without extra training.
Those who already have a ‘B’ licence will “acquire additional rights to drive heavy motor caravans after some targeted training or testing decided for by the member state” (it is unclear if this will change anything in France, as it is already possible to take a short course to obtain additional rights to tow heavier trailers or caravans).
