Mar 26 2025
Provisional EU Driving Licence deal supports skills and talent attraction
IRU welcomes the provisional agreement reached following trilogue negotiations between EU institutions on the revision of the EU Driving Licence Directive. The outcome reflects long-standing priorities of the road transport sector and supports efforts to ensure road safety and alleviate the growing shortage of professional drivers.
The provisional agreement reached between the negotiating bodies marks progress on key issues, including minimum driver age requirements, accompanied driving for young drivers, facilitation for alternatively fuelled vehicles, an EU framework for recognising third-country driving licences, and the introduction of a harmonised digital driving licence.
IRU EU Director Raluca Marian said, “This pragmatic trilogue compromise shows real EU-level support for removing barriers to the driver profession – crucial as shortages worsen. It brings legal clarity, modernised rules, and progress on youth access, third-country drivers, and digital licences.”
Clarification of the professional drivers’ minimum age
The agreement provides long-awaited clarity on the minimum age for professional drivers, confirming that drivers with full training can drive trucks internationally from the age of 18.
For passenger transport, while we appreciate that 21 years has been confirmed as the minimum age for driving buses and coaches, we regret the missed opportunity to remove the existing 50km limitation for drivers under 21 years old. This remains an obstacle to attracting young graduates to the sector.
Attracting young talent with accompanied driving
IRU supports the inclusion of an accompanied driving scheme for 17-year-olds, which EU Member States may choose to implement for licence categories B, C1 and C1E. This important initiative allows young drivers to gain supervised experience and targeted training, contributing to road safety and the attractiveness of the profession.
Progress on third-country driver access
The introduction of an EU-wide framework to recognise and exchange certain third-country driving licences – when aligned with EU standards – is a welcome step towards reducing administrative burdens for operators and drivers. This move supports efforts to expand the talent pool beyond EU borders.
IRU encourages policymakers to build on this progress by also addressing the recognition of third-country professional qualifications, which remains key to fully unlocking international driver recruitment.
Raluca Marian added: “While attracting EU talent must remain the priority, the reality of 500,000 unfilled driver positions across the EU makes tapping into the third-country driver pool a necessity.”
“We welcome the initial step of simplifying the recognition of professional driving licences issued by third countries. However, this only addresses part of the challenge.”
“Without mutual recognition of Certificates of Professional Competence (CPCs), these drivers will still be unable to operate in the EU. Although this opportunity was missed for now, we remain hopeful as the upcoming revision of CPC rules could finally close this critical gap.” Read more
Source: IRU