The MPs are not following the responsible parliamentary committee. The majority of Austrian MPs voted no. The ÖVP voted once morest it, only Othmar Karas abstained. The SPÖ and FPÖ were united once morest the position. From the Greens, Sarah Wiener voted in favor, delegation leader Monika Vana and Thomas Waitz abstained, as did her NEOS colleague Claudia Gamon.
A total of 339 MPs voted for the position and 240 once morest. 37 abstained. The parliamentary committee wanted to send all driving license holders to a mandatory health check every time their driving license is reissued, i.e. every 15 years. In contrast to the suggestions from the EU Commission and member states, the MPs did not want to allow voluntary self-assessments as an alternative to the health check. After numerous amendments, this demand is now off the table.
According to the parliamentary position, drivers should assess their own driving ability when issuing and renewing their driving license. The EU countries should decide for themselves whether this should be supplemented by a medical examination.
Next step: further negotiations
Parliament fundamentally supports a reform of EU driving license regulations. MPs want drivers to be better prepared for real driving situations. Therefore, they are demanding that driving in snow and slippery conditions, using the phone safely while driving or driver assistance systems also become part of the driving license tests. MEPs support the introduction of a digital driving license, available on a mobile phone and fully equivalent to the physical driving license.
The Council (of member states) has already agreed on a common position on the EU Commission’s proposal. The next step at EU level are the so-called trilogue negotiations that will begin between the two EU institutions. The aim is to agree on a regulation that everyone can agree to.
“Success once morest age discrimination”
“The proposal from the Green negotiator in the European Parliament contained many different stumbling blocks, the aim of which was to generally make access to driving more difficult and more complicated instead of contributing to road safety,” the ÖVP MEPs explain Barbara Thaler and Wolfram Pirchner their rejection according to the broadcast. Some would have gotten them out of the way, but unfortunately not enough to agree.
“It is a great victory that the new driving license directive now treats all drivers equally, regardless of age. This was a main concern in our fight for justice and inclusion on the roads of Europe,” says the President of the Senior Citizens’ Association happily Ingrid Korosec regarding the “success once morest age discrimination”.
“Road safety is very important to us older people. But: The key to more road safety for everyone and across all age groups lies not in compulsory tests and restrictions, but in target group-specific driving technique courses,” says the President of the independent pensioners’ association, happily. Peter Kostelka.
