By Tom Phillips

The European Council has agreed updated proposals for amendments to the European Union’s Directive on Driving Licences that lay out the legislative basis for integrating mobile driving licences into the European Digital Identity Wallet.

The proposals were originally made by the European Commission and also allow for “the alignment of the technical elements for mobile driving licences with the revision of the digital identity (eIDAS) regulation and better link between the adoption of implementing acts and member states’ obligation on implementation”.

According to the updated proposals approved by the council, “the European Digital Identity Wallet shall provide to authorised persons at least the following features: a) retrieval and storage allowing to prove the driving rights of a person; b) display and transfer of this data”.

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In addition, EU member states “shall allow the holder of the driving licence to retrieve a driving licence to their European Digital Identity Wallet,” the council’s report states.

“The European Digital Identity Wallet containing the mobile driving licence shall allow automatically or upon request the updating or re-issuing of the mobile driving licence.

“The European Digital Identity Wallets shall allow the holder of the driving licence to display or transmit to a third party all or part of the data contained in the mobile driving licence.

“Competent authorities of the Member States shall be authorised to request from European Digital Identity Wallets the data contained in the mobile driving licences in order to be able to ascertain the driving rights of the holder of the driving licence (verification).”

The council’s adoption of the proposals paves the way for the amendments to be discussed with the European Parliament.

The European Council and representatives of the European Parliament agreed a provisional legislative framework for the European Digital Identity Wallet in November.