Recital (67)

Since the objectives of this Directive, namely to seriously reduce the number of road traffic accident victims in the Union and to facilitate the free movement of citizens by providing for uniform rules with regard to the right to drive and the issuance and renewal of driving licences and their mutual recognition, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States, as national rules governing the issuance, renewal, replacement and exchange of driving licences would lead to requirements so diverse that the level of road safety and free movement of citizens which harmonised rules provide could not be achieved, but can rather, by reason of the cross-border and Union-wide nature of road traffic and the need to lay down common minimum requirements, be better achieved at Union level, the Union may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union. In accordance with the principle of proportionality as set out in that Article, this Directive does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve those objectives.