The European Union has officially adopted new legislation that will make driving bans enforceable across all member states. Approved by the European Parliament on 21 October 2025, the law closes long-standing loopholes that allowed dangerous drivers to escape penalties by crossing borders. According to Euronews, the reform means that when a driver is disqualified in one EU country for serious offences—such as drink-driving, drug-driving, excessive speeding, or causing death or serious injury—that ban will now apply throughout the entire European Union.
The legislation introduces a harmonized system of notification and enforcement: once a country issues a driving disqualification lasting three months or more, it must notify the state that issued the license using a standardized EU form. That country will then have 15 working days to recognize and apply the ban. The new directive was described by European Commissioner for Transport Adina Vălean as “a vital step toward ensuring that road safety does not stop at national borders.”
This law also comes as part of a broader EU road-safety package that modernizes driving rules. Among the key reforms are digital driving licenses accessible through smartphones, a two-year probationary period for new drivers, and a 15-year validity limit for most car and motorcycle licenses. The European Parliament said on 16 October 2025 that the initiative is designed to “build a safer and more consistent driving culture” across Europe.
Under previous arrangements, around 40 percent of cross-border traffic offences went unpunished because one country’s ban could not be enforced elsewhere. The new measure ensures that “those who lose their right to drive in one member state cannot simply move to another and continue driving,” a Parliament spokesperson told Euronews on 21 October 2025.
EU countries now have three years to transpose the directive into their national laws, followed by another year to ensure full application. The European Council confirmed that the measure “marks a milestone in Europe’s Vision Zero strategy,” which aims to eliminate road deaths by 2050.
In short, as of 23 October 2025, the new cross-border driving ban law has been approved but not yet implemented at the national level. It represents a major shift toward unified road-safety enforcement in the EU—one that ensures serious traffic offenders can no longer escape accountability by simply crossing a border.
