Safer roads, tougher rules for serious offenders

The EPP Group welcomes the successful conclusion of negotiations between the European Parliament and EU Member States on the Driving Disqualification Law. Crucially, this legislation will make it possible to ban serious road offenders from driving across all EU Member States, helping to make our roads safer.

“The Driving Disqualification Law will ensure that individuals who commit serious traffic offences resulting in the revocation of their licence will not be able to continue driving in other Member States. This will combat the practice, where people commit serious traffic violations in other Member States without the risk of losing their licence in their home country. This impunity will now come to an end,” says Markus Ferber MEP, the EPP Group’s lead negotiator on this file.

The EPP Group has ensured that the new rules will only punish serious traffic offenders and will not unfairly penalise everyday drivers who may unintentionally exceed speed limits while travelling through another EU country.

"Thanks to the efforts of the EPP Group, there will not be an EU-wide demerit point system, as setting up such a system would have created unnecessary bureaucracy and conflicted with the principle of subsidiarity because several Member States already have their own point systems. Furthermore, creating a parallel point system only at the EU level may be ineffective and disproportionate, adding unnecessary costs and administration while causing uncertainty and confusion among EU citizens," Ferber explains.

“Our roads will be safer, and our citizens will be better protected, thanks to this important new legislation. By targeting serious offenders without introducing a burdensome EU-wide points system, we have struck the right balance between road safety and individual freedom,” Ferber emphasises.