Commission refers Estonia to court for not connecting to driving licenses network

Photo: Arno Saar / Õhtuleht

The European Commission has decided to refer the Czech Republic, Estonia, Italy, Portugal and Slovenia to the Court of Justice of the European Union for failing to correctly transpose the European rules on driving licenses, in particular by not connecting to the EU driving licenses network RESPER.

The Commission decided to refer Estonia, Italy, Portugal, the Czech Republic and Slovenia to the Court of Justice of the EU for failing to connect to the EU's RESPER network, which is intended to help member states cooperate with each other and ensure that driving licenses are issued in accordance with EU rules. The exchange of information through RESPER should have started on Jan. 19, 2013, the representation of the Commission in Estonia said

The European Commission opened infringement proceedings in July 2014, and sent a reasoned opinion to the member states concerned in February 2015. As it stands today, the member states have still failed to fulfil their obligations under the directive dating from 2006, and therefore the Commission has decided to refer the cases to the Court of Justice of the EU.

The use of RESPER helps member states to ensure that a person does not hold more than one license. This is necessary in order to ensure that drivers only drive vehicles in categories for which they are qualified and authorized and to achieve one of the key objectives of the directive on driving licenses, namely, to improve road safety.