Driving licence: lorry at 18 and driving bans valid across the EU

Two directives adopted on 22 October 2025 and published in the Official Journal on 5 November will change the way people enter the driving profession and the weight of a driving ban picked up away from home. Directive (EU) 2025/2205 replaces the driving licence regime; Directive (EU) 2025/2206 deals with disqualifications. On 29 July 2026 the European Commission published its strategy for supporting Member States in applying both.

Start with the essentials: nothing changes on the road today. The directives are in force, but they depend on national transposition. Anyone checked this week is still subject to current national rules.

The timetable

Date	What happens
26 November 2027	Early application of accompanied driving and of the equivalences for alternative-fuel vehicles
26 November 2028	Deadline for Member States to transpose the directives
26 November 2029	Application of the rules in general

Member States therefore have a little over two years to adapt their highway codes and the rules of their transport authorities. Until then, 2026 is a transition year: the European framework exists, national law does not yet.

Lorry at 18, coach at 21 — with the Driver CPC

This is the change with the most direct impact on the sector. With a certificate of professional competence (Driver CPC), the minimum age becomes:

• 18 for category C (heavy goods);
• 21 for category D (passengers).

Without the CPC it stays at 21 and 24 respectively. In practice, the CPC stops being just a training obligation and becomes the key that brings entry to the profession forward by three years.

The directive goes further and extends accompanied driving — today designed for category B at 17 — to categories C1, C1E and C. A 17-year-old will be able to drive a heavy vehicle provided they are accompanied by a driver meeting demanding requirements: over 24 years old, five years of licence in the supervised category, no disqualifications in the last five years, and specific training of 7 to 14 hours built into the periodic training of their own CPC.

For operators this answers the driver shortage — but it is also a new burden: someone in the fleet has to be qualified to accompany.

Banned in one country, banned across the EU

Directive 2025/2206 closes an old gap. Until now, a driving ban imposed in a Member State other than the one that issued the licence effectively stopped at the border. There will now be a notification system, through the European driving licence network, by which the issuing country is informed and suspends the licence, with effect across the whole Union.

It covers serious offences: driving under the influence of alcohol or psychotropic substances, speeding, and conduct causing death or serious bodily injury.

For international work the reading is simple: a ban picked up in France or Germany stops being a local problem.

Digital licence, validity and medical checks

• Digital licence — a European mobile format appears, accessible through the European Digital Identity Wallet, with the same legal value as the plastic card. It will gradually become the main format, but the right to a physical licence remains, normally issued within three weeks.
• Validity — 15 years for cars and motorcycles (Member States may cut it to 10) and 5 years for lorries and coaches, with the option of shortening it from the age of 65.
• Medical checks — they remain for the professional categories, including vision and cardiovascular health. The self-assessment the directive allows applies only to cars and motorcycles.

Alternative fuels up to 4,250 kg

Category B holders with at least two years of experience will be able to drive alternative-fuel vehicles up to 4,250 kg instead of 3,500 kg. The measure exists so that the extra weight of batteries and hydrogen tanks does not penalise urban distribution. It applies from 26 November 2027.

Watch one point that is often confused: this flexibility is about the licence, not about the tachograph or driving times. A vehicle over 2.5 tonnes in international transport remains covered by the obligations that took effect on 1 July 2026.

What to do now

Nothing is required today, but two decisions are already worth preparing:

1. Recruitment planning — if the company is counting on young drivers, the CPC becomes the fastest route and it is worth bringing the training forward.
2. Training accompanying drivers — the 7 to 14 hours required fit into periodic CPC training. Booking them early avoids being left without qualified accompanying drivers when the regime starts.

We will follow transposition in each country. When the national rules are published, this page will be updated.