In order for the transition to the new driving licence regime, the European Commission adopted technical changes to the Directive on driving licences. The improvement intention tries to avoid unnecessary administrative charge to citizens or industry. With around 300 million European citizens having a driver’s license, most of them will be concerned about this new Directive. From 19 January 2013, a single European driving licence model and new driving licence categories will be introduced with Directive 2006/126/EC. The amendment today covers four areas, which you can consult here. With this Directive instead of having over 100 driving licence models, all driving licences issued from 19 January 2013 onwards by Member States shall follow a EU model, which is in form of a plastic card. This new card intends to reduce the possibilities of fraud, introducing security features and administrative validity periods. Category A and B will have an administrative validity between 10 years and 15 years and category C and D have one of 5 years. The Third Driving Licence Directive The new European driving licence will also protect vulnerable road users by introducing progressive access for powered two-wheelers. The progressive access system implies that driving experience with a less powerful motorcycle is required before driving a more powerful one. Source: European Comission