On 18 January, the Parliament's Transport Committee overwhelmingly supported a report by Mathieu Grosch MEP to introduce credit card-size plastic driving licences in the EU within the next ten years.
The proposal, if approved by the Parliament's plenary, will replace the existing 110 different models of licences currently used in the EU-25 in favour of a single format.
Potential benefits include less fraud and a better protection of drivers' rights when travelling in the EU. Professional drivers are meant to benefit from the new system as they will be allowed to work and travel more freely.
The text also aims to prevent so-called "driving licence tourism" whereby individuals pursued for driving licence offences in one member state escape sanctions by applying for a new licence in another member state.
MEPs also supported a report by Ewa Hedkvist Petersen MEP to phase out the rigid bull bars used to protect the front of four-wheel drive vehicles, which are considered dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists.
The text, if approved by Parliament's plenary, will take effect on 1 January 2007. The measures will save hundreds of lives a year in the EU, according to the rapporteur, although they have been softened to incorporate the views of those arguing in favour of bull bars. The EU Council of ministers had called for a total ban on bull bars.
