Mandatory medical examination for all drivers whenever they renew their driving license – Still, many other priorities are imposed
Brussels (OTS) – “The European Parliament took a completely wrong turn in today’s vote in the Transport Committee. A narrow majority, supported by a memorable alliance of right-wingers, Greens, Social Democrats and Liberals, introduced a mandatory health check for everyone every time they renew their driving license. For us, this crosses a red line. This means that age discrimination is out of the question, but the content is still incorrect. Countries with self-assessments, such as Germany and Austria, are significantly safer than countries with mandatory health checks. That’s why we voted against the proposed law,” say ÖVP MEPs Barbara Thaler and Wolfram Pirchner. The Popular Party voted against the proposed law in the Transport Committee. It was approved extremely narrowly, with just one more vote (22 in favor, 21 against, 2 abstentions).
“For other important priorities under the new driving license directive, we were fortunately able to prevail against the Green negotiator’s problematic ideas. For example, the L17 driving license will continue to exist and will be extended to categories C and, with some reductions, to D, i.e. for trucks and buses, to solve the driver shortage”, explains Barbara Thaler, deputy transport spokesperson for the European People’s Party in the European Parliament, and is satisfied: “Thanks to our initiative as the European People’s Party, tractor driving licenses must be recognized across borders in the future. This will reduce the bureaucratic burden on our farmers. Furthermore, it has now been ensured that after two years it will also be possible to drive heavier cars, with a total weight of up to 4250 kg if they are ambulances or This is just a small change, but on the one hand it helps rescue organizations enormously. On the other hand it increases road safety because more people can drive with caravans rather than a combination of trailers much more dangerous. I am also pleased that the push for an EU-wide points system, which could result in a driving license being revoked, has been rejected. Another success is that the period of validity of driving licenses for classes A, B and T, i.e. for motorcycles, cars and tractors, has been set at at least 15 years, and that Member States are not obliged to reduce the validity period .”
Pirchner is pleased that direct age discrimination against drivers has been avoided: “This is a relief for all elderly citizens in Europe. Unfairly discriminating against the elderly group in this way would have been a big mistake. Especially considering that The facts show that older drivers do not cause the most accidents. I am pleased that we have managed to put an end to this blanket accusation. It is now important to support drivers with measures to improve road safety, without imposing unnecessary burdens on them.”
“In the end, we managed to prevail on all important points, but we did not find a majority in the mandatory health examination. But we will resolve this in the plenary”, emphasize Thaler and Pirchner.
The revision of the driving license directive is expected to be voted on in the plenary session of the European Parliament in January 2024. The final position of negotiations with Member States will then be determined. (Final)
Questions and contact:
Barbara Thaler, European MEP, Tel.: +32-2-28-45218,
[email protected]
Mag. Wolfram Pirchner MEP, Tel.: +32-2-28-45568,
[email protected]
Helena Ringer, Executive Vice President of the Press Service, Tel.: +32-2-28-31184,
[email protected]