16 Nov 2018 - Driver Licence Exchange under Recognition of Competences for Safe Drivers Workshop, Lisbon (Portugal)

The first workshop organized by CIECA in its programme for 2018-2019, will take place on 16 November 2018 in the Rossio Railway Station, R. 1º de Dezembro, 1249-970 Lisboa, Portugal. The event will focus on the process of recognition and exchange of driver licences issued by non-EU countries within the EU, and the validation of driver competences in this context. We would like to take this opportunity to thank IMT for their kind offering to host the workshop.

Citizens of EU Member States have the freedom to travel and work within the EU's internal borders, and under the terms of the 2006/126/EC directive, the rules on driving licence issuing, especially the minimum requirements for testing, are harmonize.

However, despite the number of people residing in EU Member States with citizenship of a non-member country (on 1 January 2017 they were 21.6 million people, representing 4.2 % of the EU-28 population) the recognition and exchange of non-EU driving licenses is not harmonized. Many of these citizens were driver licence holders before moving to the EU and having their driving licences recognized and exchanged after living within EU borders for more than 185 days.  

This represents a challenge for all EU Member States because, on one hand, they must make sure that the policies for the recognition of driving licences from third countries guarantees the similarity of driving competences with the ones establish for their own citizens. On another hand, the exchange of these licences also has an impact on road safety in the rest of EU countries as the outcome of the exchange is an EU driving licence valid in all EU territory.

In this workshop we want to discuss and evaluate:

  • The different models of recognition and exchange of driving licences;  
  • The role of the culture background for behaviour in traffic and the attitudes about safe driving;
  • Drivers’ knowledge and competences in relation to their driving education;
  • What should be trained or tested in the process of exchanging a driving licence. 

We hope to find recommendations for an exchange process that ensure safe drivers in their new living area and contribute to the harmonization of the recognition of driving licences in Europe.

  • Draft Agenda
  • Fee: This members'-only event is free-of-charge.
  • Location: Rossio Railway Station, R. 1º de Dezembro, 1249-970 Lisboa, Portugal. For more information on the venue, please follow this link.
  • Information for participants (available very shortly)
  • Accommodation: Altis Avenida Hotel, Rua 1º Dezembro, 120, 1200 - 360 Lisboa - Portugal. Please send an e-mail to reservationsavenida@altishotels.com or phone at +351 210 440 007 to book your accommodation, mentioning the code CIECA_AVENIDA. Once you contact the hotel you will be given a number of payment options. All bookings should be prepaid upon booking request. Please note that the deadline to book your room is 24 October 2018. After this date, all bookings requests will be subject to availibility, and the price will not be guaranteed. The price for a single room is 140E while the rate for a room with double occupancy is 160E. The price is per room per night, including buffet breakfast in the restaurant and VAT. The City Tax of Lisbon will be added to the rates. This tax must be paid directly at the hotel and has the value of € 1,00 per person and per night, applicable for a maximum of 7 nights (maximum € 7,00 per person).
  • Registration: Please press the registration button below and fill in the online registration form. The registration deadline for this event is 8 November 2018.
  • Working language: English.