ECJ raps Spain over 1991 Driving Licence Directive

Publication date: 09 September 2004

The judgement issued today by the European Court of Justice against Spain  (case C-195/02) is considered by the European Commission to be an important victory.
 

Spain has been rapped on three counts for flouting the rules of the 1991 Directive on mutual recognition of driving licences (439/EEC):
1) The requirement for all foreign licence holders to register within six months on pain of a penalts was ruled illegal;
2) The requirement for foreign licence holders to change their licences if they did not offer space for holding medical information was rule illegal;
3) The exemption for Spanish citizens holding licences pre-dating the 1991 Directive from physical and mental fitness test was also not upheld.

Other Member States flouting of the rules have also been punished recently.
- Case C-246/00 (10 July 2003) against Netherlands: The Dutch are not entitled to force holders of licences from other Member States to register them within a year of moving to the Netherlands.