Case C-195/02

Commission of the European Communities

v

Kingdom of Spain

(Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations – Directive 91/439/EEC – Driving licences – Mutual recognition – Compulsory registration and exchange – Conditions for the renewal of licences issued prior to the transposition of the directive)

Summary of the Judgment

1.        Freedom of movement for persons – Freedom of establishment – Driving licences – Directive 91/439 – Mutual recognition of driving licences

(Council Directive 91/439, Art. 1(2))

2.        Freedom of movement for persons – Freedom of establishment – Driving licences –Directive 91/439 – Compulsory exchange of a driving licence issued by another Member State due to the impossibility of recording the particulars necessary for its administration – Not permissible

(Council Directive 91/439, Art. 1(3) and (8), and Annex I, point 4)

3.        Freedom of movement for persons – Freedom of establishment – Driving licences – Directive 91/439 – Renewal of driving licences – Distinction drawn, as regards minimum rules concerning mental and physical fitness, between driving licences issued before and after the entry into force of the directive – Not permissible – Justification – None

(Council Directive 91/439, Art. 7(1)(a), and Annex III)

1.        Article 1(2) of Directive 91/439 on driving licences provides for mutual recognition of driving licences issued by other Member States. That recognition which is to be carried out without any formality, is a precise and unconditional obligation and the Member States have no discretion as to the measures to be adopted in order to comply with that requirement. Since registration of a driving licence issued by another Member State becomes an obligation because holders of such a licence are subject to a sanction if, after having taken up residence in the host Member State, they operate a motor vehicle without having registered their driving licence, such registration must be deemed to constitute a formality contrary to Article 1(2) of the directive.

(see paras 53-55)

2.        The power which Article 1(3) of Directive 91/439 on driving licences grants to the host Member State to enter on a driving licence issued by another Member State the particulars needed for its administration is, as is apparent from point 4 of Annex I to that directive, expressly subject to the condition that the necessary space on the licence is available to the host Member State for that purpose.

Exchanging a driving licence issued by another Member State when the space provided on the licence for recording the observations necessary for the administration thereof ceases to be available is not compatible with Directive 91/349 since that exchange does not come under the exhaustive list of circumstances in which exchange is authorised contained in Article 8 of the directive.

(see paras 69-70)

3.        A combined reading of Article 7(1)(a) and Annex III to Directive 91/439, on driving licences, to which that provision refers, shows that the minimum rules concerning mental and physical fitness to drive a motor vehicle laid down by the directive apply to any person seeking the issue or renewal of a driving licence.

Since Directive 91/439 does not distinguish between the renewal of driving licences issued after its entry into force and that of driving licences issued before that date, such a distinction is incompatible with the directive.

The existence of national provisions pursuant to which the holders of a driving licence issued before the entry into force of the directive cannot be obliged to fulfil the conditions laid down by it when renewing their licences, cannot justify the infringement of Article 7(1)(a) of Directive 91/439.

A Member State cannot plead provisions, practices or situations prevailing in its domestic legal order to justify failure to observe obligations and time-limits laid down by a directive.

(see paras 77-78, 81-82)