EU Commission takes Cyprus to Court on driving licence

The European Commission decided Thursday to refer Cyprus to the European Court of Justice for its failure to transpose a directive on driving licence.
According to the Commission, the directive should have been fully transposed by 19 January 2011. Failure to implement the directive may affect road safety and makes it difficult for the Cypriots to exchange the relevant driving licences in other parts of the EU, it is noted.

The reason for the Court referral is that Cyprus has still not fully transposed this directive into national law, although it was required to do so by 19 January 2011.

It is pointed out that this directive is essential as it guarantees the mutual recognition of driving licences within the EU, including the new driving licence categories.

Not implementing this directive could affect road safety and make it difficult for Cypriots to exchange their driving licence for a new one in other parts of the EU or for other Europeans to exchange their driving licence for a Cypriot one.