The digital driving license will be easier to replace, renew, or exchange since all procedures will be online. It will also be easier for citizens from non-EU countries with comparable road safety standards to exchange their driving license for an EU one. (4)

However, the European Data Protection Supervisor seems to imply that there might be a risk of improper sharing of personal data if an EU-wide digital driving license is introduced. The Supervisor has reacted to the European Commission’s proposal to introduce a digital driving license valid throughout the EU by stressing that “access to driving license data by public authorities should be properly defined and limited to what is strictly necessary and proportionate”. (5)

MobileCIT Project Manager Gatis Pavils (MyVoice, Latvia) adds:

“MobileCIT project also aims to assess and raise awareness about the everyday inconveniences caused by the unnecessary bureaucratic procedures, so-called “red tape”. The current situation with driver’s licenses is an illustration of this: a license issued in one country is perfectly valid in every EU country, but, somehow when an owner of the license should exchange it, the bureaucratic routines may differ depending on the country where the license has been issued. People need sometimes to come to the country where the license was issued to exchange it.”

“We propose to improve this situation across the EU, replacing this with unified, digital licensing. Your choice: to support this or not!”

The article is posted in collaboration with MobileCIT.