“This directive is another step toward digital surveillance and bureaucracy without making road traffic any safer. A digital driving licence means new costs and administrative burdens for millions of motorists—with the benefits entirely unclear. Instead of promoting citizens’ mobility, the EU is creating new hurdles and an expensive administrative spiral.
What is particularly critical is that driving bans would in future apply EU-wide. That would be a massive encroachment on the national law of the Member States. If, for example, a driving ban imposed in France automatically also applies in Germany, it undermines the sovereignty of our legal order. The Member States must be able to decide for themselves how to sanction traffic offences—not Brussels.
Thanks to the votes of many centre-right MEPs, including the ESN Group, even more far-reaching intrusions were prevented—for example, mandatory, regular medical examinations for older drivers. That would have been pure age discrimination. We stand for personal responsibility, national competence, and against a European surveillance state.”
