Case C-195/02

Commission of the European Communities

v

Kingdom of Spain

(Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations – Directive 91/439/EEC – Driving licences – Mutual recognition – Compulsory registration and exchange – Conditions for the renewal of licences issued prior to the transposition of the directive)

Summary of the Judgment

1. Freedom of movement for persons – Freedom of establishment – Driving licences – Directive 91/439 – Mutual recognition of driving licences

(Council Directive 91/439, Art. 1(2))

2. Freedom of movement for persons – Freedom of establishment – Driving licences –Directive 91/439 – Compulsory exchange of a driving licence issued by another Member State due to the impossibility of recording the particulars necessary for its administration – Not permissible

(Council Directive 91/439, Art. 1(3) and (8), and Annex I, point 4)

3. Freedom of movement for persons – Freedom of establishment – Driving licences – Directive 91/439 – Renewal of driving licences – Distinction drawn, as regards minimum rules concerning mental and physical fitness, between driving licences issued before and after the entry into force of the directive – Not permissible – Justification – None

(Council Directive 91/439, Art. 7(1)(a), and Annex III)

1. Article 1(2) of Directive 91/439 on driving licences provides for mutual recognition of driving licences issued by other Member States. That recognition which is to be carried out without any formality, is a precise and unconditional obligation and the Member States have no discretion as to the measures to be adopted in order to comply with that requirement. Since registration of a driving licence issued by another Member State becomes an obligation because holders of such a licence are subject to a sanction if, after having taken up residence in the host Member State, they operate a motor vehicle without having registered their driving licence, such registration must be deemed to constitute a formality contrary to Article 1(2) of the directive.

(see paras 53-55)

2. The power which Article 1(3) of Directive 91/439 on driving licences grants to the host Member State to enter on a driving licence issued by another Member State the particulars needed for its administration is, as is apparent from point 4 of Annex I to that directive, expressly subject to the condition that the necessary space on the licence is available to the host Member State for that purpose.

Exchanging a driving licence issued by another Member State when the space provided on the licence for recording the observations necessary for the administration thereof ceases to be available is not compatible with Directive 91/349 since that exchange does not come under the exhaustive list of circumstances in which exchange is authorised contained in Article 8 of the directive.

(see paras 69-70)

3. A combined reading of Article 7(1)(a) and Annex III to Directive 91/439, on driving licences, to which that provision refers, shows that the minimum rules concerning mental and physical fitness to drive a motor vehicle laid down by the directive apply to any person seeking the issue or renewal of a driving licence.

Since Directive 91/439 does not distinguish between the renewal of driving licences issued after its entry into force and that of driving licences issued before that date, such a distinction is incompatible with the directive.

The existence of national provisions pursuant to which the holders of a driving licence issued before the entry into force of the directive cannot be obliged to fulfil the conditions laid down by it when renewing their licences, cannot justify the infringement of Article 7(1)(a) of Directive 91/439.

A Member State cannot plead provisions, practices or situations prevailing in its domestic legal order to justify failure to observe obligations and time-limits laid down by a directive.

(see paras 77-78, 81-82)

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT (Second Chamber) 9 September 2004 (1)

(Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations – Directive 91/439/EEC – Driving licences – Mutual recognition – Compulsory registration and exchange – Conditions for the renewal of licences issued prior to the transposition of the directive)

In Case C-195/02,ACTION under Article 226 EC for failure to fulfil obligations,brought on 27 May 2002,

applicant,

v

defendant, supported by:

THE COURT (Second Chamber),,

composed of C.W.A. Timmermans, President of the Chamber, J.-P. Puissochet and R. Schintgen (Rapporteur), F. Macken and N. Colneric, Judges,

Advocate General: P. Léger,

having regard to the written procedure and further to the hearing on 4 December 2003,

after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General at the sitting on 4 March 2004,

gives the following

‘… for the purpose of the common transport policy, and as a contribution to improving road traffic safety, as well as to facilitate the movement of persons settling in a Member State other than that in which they have passed a driving test, it is desirable that there should be a Community model national driving licence mutually recognised by the Member States without any obligation to exchange licences’.

‘… the provisions set out in Article 8 of Directive 80/1263/EEC, and in particular the obligation to exchange driving licences within a period of one year of changing normal residence, constitute an obstacle to the free movement of persons; … this is inadmissible in the light of the progress made towards European integration;

… for reasons connected with road safety and traffic, Member States should be able to apply their national provisions on the withdrawal, suspension and cancellation of driving licences to all licence holders having acquired normal residence in their territory’.

‘1.

2.

3.‘1.

(a)

‘1.

2.

3.

4.A Member State may likewise refuse to issue a driving licence to an applicant who is the subject of such a measure in another Member State.

…’

‘Where the holder of a driving licence issued by a Member State has taken up normal residence in another Member State, the latter may indicate:

–

–

provided that it also enters this type of information in the licences which it issues and that there is a space available for that purpose.’

‘Where the holder of a driving licence issued by a Member State in accordance with this Annex has his normal place of residence in another Member State, that Member State may enter in the licence such information as is essential for administering it, provided that it also enters this type of information in the licences which it issues and provided that there remains enough space for the purpose.’

‘1.

2.(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

‘Within the period of four years referred to in Article 17(3) of the present regulations, reckoned from the date of entry into force thereof, the holders of driving licences who have been unable to obtain renewal thereof because they lack the mental and physical fitness referred to in Annexes I and II to Royal Decree No 2272/1985 of 14 December 1985 may do so provided that they make an application to that effect, produce evidence of the mental and physical fitness referred to in Annex IV to the present regulations, and provided that they do so before the expiry of a period equal to twice the period of validity of the expired licence as from its issue or latest renewal.

Holders of driving licences obtained before the entry into force of the present regulations who, when applying for their period of validity to be extended, do not display the mental and physical fitness referred to in Annex IV to the said regulations, may obtain an extension provided that they make an application to that effect and prove that they display the fitness referred to in Annexes I and II to Royal Decree No 2272/1985 of 14 December 1985’.

The first complaint

– Arguments of the parties

– Findings of the Court

The second complaint

– Arguments of the parties

– Findings of the Court

The third complaint

– Arguments of the parties

– Findings of the Court

On those grounds, the Court (Second Chamber) hereby:

Signatures.