Driving licence tourism, namely the practice of changing residence for the purpose of acquiring a new driving licence, inter alia in order to circumvent the effects of a cancellation, withdrawal, suspension or restriction of the right to drive of a driver of a power-driven vehicle, of his or her driving licence or of the recognition of the validity of his or her driving licence, imposed in another Member State, is a wide-spread phenomenon, which has a negative effect on road safety. Drivers should not, merely by changing their residence, be exempted from requirements imposed on them to recover their driving licence, the recognition of its validity, or of the right to drive. At the same time, it should be clarified that any conduct on the part of citizens, or their lack of physical or mental fitness to drive, should lead to a ban from driving of indefinite duration only where it is duly justified. Conditions should be set out for Member States other than that which imposed a cancellation, withdrawal, suspension or restriction to nevertheless be able to issue a driving licence to that person, should it be deemed appropriate based on an informed decision, and where the validity of the driving licence so issued is limited to the territory of Member States which have not imposed a ban of indefinite duration.
Text as published in the Official Journal, reproduced verbatim (including any typographical quirks of the source). For the authentic version, see EUR-Lex.
