The essence of the project is to replace driving licenses in European Union countries with licenses of a single standard. They will be a plastic card with an embedded microchip, which will simplify reading information from the card in any EU country. The electronic chip will contain all necessary data about the owner – the same as in biometric passports. According to the draft law, retaking the traffic rules will not be required to obtain new licenses. Moreover, as "Novye Izvestia" reports, the currently valid licenses in EU countries will remain valid until their owners replace them with new ones.
The initiator of the project, former EU Transport Commissioner Loyola de Palacio, believes that the transition to unified driving licenses will overcome the last obstacle to the free movement of European Union citizens. "Now," explains Ms. de Palacio, "there are more than 80 types of driving licenses in EU member states. Therefore, effectively controlling their issuance is virtually impossible, which complicates the introduction of new security measures." According to the commissioner, licenses of a single standard will be reliably protected from counterfeiting.
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