Karam el Shenawy
March 6, 2023
One of the latest proposals from the European Commission focuses on the fact that if a driver commits a serious offense outside his country, his license can be withdrawn.
Until now it seemed that there was some kind of open bar when it comes to infractions It refers to if you crossed the border of any country of the European Union. With this phrase we refer, of course, to the maintenance of your driving license and even with the receipt of some traffic sanctions, as long as they were not executed at the same time. A situation that could change in the future rather than the present, since last week the European Commission asked Legislative changes so that the withdrawal of the driving license for a serious offense is effective throughout the European Unionso that the offender cannot drive with impunity in other countries of the common space if he has been penalized with the suspension of the license for more than a month in any of the Member States.
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And it is that as declared by the Commissioner for Transport, Adina Vãlean, in a press conference “at least 40% of the offenses against non-residents remain without effect either because the driver cannot be identified, or because despite being identified, he does not pay the penalty”. In this way he continued, it gives the “feeling that when one is out he can do whatever it takes because he will not be penalized.”
Beware of the differences in rules
The reform proposed by Brussels means that when the authorities of an EU country sanction a non-resident offender with the withdrawal of a driving license for more than a month, this sanction is immediately communicated to the authorities of the country issuing the license to apply the same penalty. But what this first draft indicates is that it would only be effective in the case of fines considered serious or very serious what are those who do reference to alcohol, drugs, or speeding (more than 50 km/h than allowed). It would also be the case of causing a accident with fatalities.
We say this because the new regulations could have certain gaps as regards the unification of regulations. And it is that not all member states treat some offenses with the same severity, that is to say, what in Spain can be settled through administrative channels in other territories goes through the courts and vice versa. In this way, an authority could reject the request to suspend the license. In this sense, community services they want other infractions covered such as not maintaining a safe distance, making dangerous overtaking, driving in the opposite direction or using overloaded vehicles.
Similarly, the reform proposed by the Community Executive will cover other key regulations on road safety, such as introducing a single digital driving license to facilitate its processing, validation or renewal throughout the EU and the efforts of non-EU citizens who need to travel throughout the European territory. At the moment these changes are definitive and it is the Council of all member countries who has to approve them once they have been sent to Parliament.
