THE EU DRIVING LICENCE, JANUARY 2013

The European driving licence is a driving licence replacing the many driving licence styles already in use in the member states of the European Union. They were introduced to replace the 110 different plastic and paper driving licences of the 300 million drivers in the EU. The main objective of the licence is to decrease the risk of fraud.

The new driving licence comes into force from 19 January 2013. It is smaller, the size of a credit card, and has a chip so should be forgery-proof.

With the future Class B driving licence, after undertaking obligatory training, one can drive a B category vehicle with a trailer weighing more than 750 kgs (authorised laden weight) up to a permissible total laden weight of 4,250 kgs.

With the new B E licence, up to 7 tonnes is allowed (e.g. towing vehicle weighing 3.5 tonnes and trailer weighing 3.5 tonnes maximum) provided that the permissible total laden weight is not exceeded. 

Class C1 and C1 E driving licences allow one to drive a vehicle with a permitted total combined weight of between 3.5 and 7.5 tonnes after undertaking an obligatory theory and practical test and a medical examination. 

Class C1 E driving licence concerns vehicles weighing 3.5 to 7.5 tonnes with a trailer weighing over 750 kgs, the combined weight of which cannot exceed 12 tonnes.

These driving licences are valid for between 5 and 15 years, depending on the category, and must be renewed on expiry (no test required).  

Source: FFCC - FICC