… pursuant to Directive (EU) 2025/2206 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2025 amending Directive (EU) 2025/2205 as regards certain driving disqualifications.
In a situation where a driver is subject to a driving disqualification, an important question arises: “In which territory?”
A driving disqualification is a measure that is common across EU Member States. However, Member States’ legal frameworks differ in, among other things, the conditions under which such a measure can be imposed, the ways in which the disqualification is implemented, or the actual ranges of the duration of the disqualifications imposed.
Regardless of which Member State imposes the driving disqualification, the following applies. The driving disqualification applies only to the territory of the State which imposed the disqualification. The reason for this limited validity of the disqualification is the principle of territoriality, where a State cannot extend its jurisdiction beyond its own territory. Thus, if, for example, a Czech citizen drives under the influence of alcohol in Italy and is subject to a driving disqualification by the Italian authorities, they may continue to drive both in the Czech Republic and in all other States, except for Italy.
The number of cases where accidents, offences or crimes occur in a Member State other than the Member State of issuance[1] continues to increase. The fact that a driving disqualification is linked only to a specific territory, rather than to the driver themselves, consequently weakens (international) road safety.
The European Union has already responded to this situation by adopting a new Directive in October 2025[2], which focuses on the notification and enforcement of driving disqualifications imposed across EU Member States.
Pursuant to this Directive, it will no longer be decisive which Member State imposed the driving disqualification. A driving disqualification imposed should be effective in the territory of all Member States, although not without exception.
Where a driving disqualification is imposed on a driver by a Member State other than the Member State of issuance, that State shall notify the Member State of issuance of the imposition of the disqualification.
Only those disqualifications shall be notified:
- which consist in the withdrawal, suspension or restriction of the right to drive, the withdrawal of a driving licence or the (non-)recognition of the validity of the licence;
- which were imposed due to the commission of a driving disqualification offence for which a driving disqualification may be imposed under the law of that State and which are[3]:
- drink-driving,
- driving under the influence of drugs,
- speeding, or
- causing the death of or serious injury to another person as a result of a breach of road traffic rules.
- against the imposition of which there is no longer a right of appeal;
- which were imposed for a fixed period if time of not less than three months;
- which, at the time of notification, are expected to take at least another month to complete; and
- which were imposed directly on the driver who committed the road safety related traffic offence for which a driving disqualification may be imposed.[4]
Only if all the aforementioned conditions are met will the imposition of the disqualification be further notified. Thus, it appears that only disqualifications imposed in more serious cases will apply “across the board”. It is also necessary to take into account the duration of the entire administrative process from the imposition of the disqualification through the notification to the adoption of the measures by the Member State of issuance, so that the notification is effective at all.
Not all driving disqualifications will have to be notified, but neither will all notifications necessarily lead to action being taken by the Member State of issuance. Even if the above conditions are met, a notification will not lead to the intended consequences if it was not made entirely correctly or if the offense in question would not, under the law of the Member State of issuance, result in a driving disqualification. In other cases, the application of an exemption is at the discretion of the State of issuance. For instance, the measure does not have to be adopted if the disqualification was imposed for speeding, provided it was by less than 50 km/h.[5]
If a driving disqualification is imposed, even if it applies across the territory of all Member States, it will only be possible to challenge it before the courts of the State that imposed the disqualification.[6]
It is therefore a question of how broad the application of the rules contained in the Directive will be in practice. Not only is a specific group of driving disqualifications that will be subject to the notification obligation strictly defined, but the Member State receiving the notification is further given the possibility of discretion as to whether it will adopt the legal measures at all. To transmit notifications by means of an electronic standard driving disqualification certificate, the EU driving licence network will have to be adapted, and communication between the relevant national authorities will have to be strengthened for this purpose. By the end of November 2028, Member States should adopt the relevant national legislation, and one year later, procedures should already be carried out in accordance with the applicable laws. It is impossible to predict when the corresponding Czech law will be adopted or whether this will happen within the specified transposition period. What is certain, however, is that for at least the next three years, driving disqualifications will continue to apply only within the territory of the Member State of issuance
[1] Or other than the Member State in which the driver has their normal residence.
[2] Directive (EU) 2025/2206 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2025 amending Directive (EU) 2025/2205 as regards certain driving disqualifications (hereinafter referred to as the “Directive”).
[3] Article 1(2), point (23) of the Directive.
[4] Article 15a of Directive (EU) 2025/2205, as newly inserted by the Directive.
[5] Article 15e (1)(2) of Directive (EU) 2025/2205, as newly inserted by the Directive.
[6] Article 15g (5) of Directive (EU) 2025/2205, as newly inserted by the Directive.