Driving licences in Europe

[maartenvdbent]

Yes, but what the local authorities would say is of no meaning, because it would be in violation with Directive 91/439/EEC. And EU law is supreme to national law, as was made clear in the Costa v. ENEL case of the European Court of Justice (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa_v._ENEL ). Furthermore, local authorities have no jurisdiction in other member states, so they can't tell other members states which licence to recognise and which not.

Like I said before, I think that "Valid only in SK" stems from the fact that the licence was issued in 2003, when Slovakia was not yet a member of the EU. Since May 1, 2004 that message is of no legal importance since it is in violation with Directive 91/439/EEC (given that the driver is at least 18 years of age, otherwise member state may refuse to recognise it (it's an exception of the general rule)).

The only way that licence is not valid outside Slovakia is that it isn't called an actual driving licence, but that would seem weird to me, since you can drive cars with it in Slovakia!

[RawLee]

I tried to look for the members of the convention at 68,but it seems only Portugal refused to sign it at that time from the "major" states from Europe. So I suspect the slovakian licence is international since then too.

[maartenvdbent]

Yes, but for international usage you need a International Driving Permit.

Vienna Convention on Road Traffic:

Chapter IV - DRIVERS OF MOTOR VEHICLES

ARTICLE 41
Driving permits

1. (a) Every driver of a motor vehicle must hold a driving permit;
(b) Contracting Parties undertake to ensure that driving permits are issued only after verification by the competent authorities that the driver possesses the required knowledge and skill;
(c) Domestic legislation must lay down requirements for obtaining a driving permit;
(d) Nothing in this Convention shall be construed as preventing Contracting Parties or subdivisions thereof from requiring driving permits for other power-driven vehicles and mopeds.

2. Contracting Parties shall recognize:
(a) Any domestic permit drawn up in their national language or in one of their national languages, or, if not drawn up in such a language, accompanied by a certified translation;
(b) Any domestic permit conforming to the provisions of Annex 6 to this Convention; and
(c) Any international permit conforming to the provisions of Annex 7 to this Convention;
as valid for driving in their territories a vehicle coming within the categories covered by the permit, provided that the permit is still valid and that it was issued by another Contracting Party or subdivision thereof or by an association duly empowered thereto by such other Contracting Party. The provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to learner-driver permits.

3. Notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding paragraph:
(a) Where the validity of the driving permit is made subject by special endorsement to the condition that the holder shall wear certain devices or that the vehicle shall be equipped in a certain way to take account of the driver's disability, the permit shall not be recognized as valid unless those conditions are observed;
(b) Contracting Parties may refuse to recognize the validity in their territories of driving permits held by persons under eighteen years of age;
(c) Contracting Parties may refuse to recognize the validity in their territories, for the driving of motor vehicles or combinations of vehicles in categories C, D and E referred to in Annexes 6 and 7 to this Convention, of driving permits held by persons under twenty-one years of age.

4. Contracting Parties may introduce in their domestic legislation a subdivision of the categories of vehicles referred to in Annexes 6 and 7 of this Convention. If the driving permit is restricted to certain vehicles within a category, a numeral shall be added to the letter of the category and the nature of the restriction shall be indicated in the driving permit.

5. For the purpose of the application of paragraph 2 and subparagraph 3 (c) of this Article:
(a) A motor vehicle of the category B referred to in Annexes 6 and 7 to this Convention may be coupled to a light trailer; it may also be coupled to a trailer whose permissible maximum mass exceeds 750 kg but does not exceed the unladen mass of the motor vehicle if the combined permissible maximum mass of the vehicles so coupled does not exceed 3,500 kg;
(b) A motor vehicle of the category C, or of the category D referred to in Annexes 6 and 7 to this Convention may be coupled to a light trailer without the resultant combination ceasing to belong to category C or category D.

6. An international permit shall be issued only to the holder of a domestic permit for the issue of which the minimum conditions laid down in this Convention have been fulfilled. It shall not be valid after the expiry of the corresponding domestic permit, the number of which shall be entered in the international permit.

7. The provisions of this Article shall not require Contracting Parties:
(a) To recognize the validity of domestic or international permits issued in the territory of another Contracting Party to persons who had their normal residence in their territories at the time of such issue or whose normal residence has been transferred to their territories since such issue; or
(b) To recognize the validity of permits as aforesaid issued to drivers whose normal residence at the time of such issue was not in the territory in which the permit was issued or who since such issue have transferred their residence to another territory.

ANNEX 7:

Annex 7
INTERNATIONAL DRIVING PERMIT

1. The permit shall be a booklet in format A 6 (148 x 105 mm). The cover shall be grey and the inside pages white.
2. The outside and inside of the front cover shall conform, respectively, to model pages Nos. 1 and 2 below; they shall be printed in the national language, or in at least one of the national languages, of the issuing State. The last two inside pages shall be facing pages conforming to model No. 3 below; they shall be printed in French. The inside pages preceding these two pages shall repeat the first of them in several languages, which must include English, Russian and Spanish.
3. Handwritten or typed entries made on the permit shall be in Latin characters or in English cursive script.
4. Contracting Parties issuing or authorizing the issuance of international driving permits of which the cover is printed in a language other than English, French, Russian or Spanish shall communicate to the Secretary-General of the United Nations the translation into that language of the text of model page No. 3 below.

So you must have a translation with you.

Note that some countries are only signatory of the Geneva Convention on Road Traffic of 1949 (for example, Portugal). That requires another international driving licence (I can tell, because I have a "Genevan" international driving licence, instead of a "Vienna" one)

[maartenvdbent]

See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interna...Driving_Permit

[maartenvdbent]

Note also that the Vienna convention speaks of this: "The provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to learner-driver permits."

The EU directive doesn't mention learner-driver permits...