the European Parliament votes against the medical examination every fifteen years

No medical examination for driving license. MEPs voted this Wednesday, February 28, 2024 against this proposal which appeared in the report on the driving license directive.

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The measure defended by French environmentalist MEP Karima Delli, president of the Transport committee in the European Parliament, wanted to make the granting of a driving license conditional on a medical examination to check the driver’s sight, hearing and reflexes. A visit to be repeated every fifteen years.

“This proposal is not intended to annoy people, but to save lives and families from accidents that should not take place”, explained Karima Delli.As a reminder, in 2022, around 20,000 people were killed on the roads of the European Union. After the vote, Karima Delli regretted the choice of Parliament.

The right is opposed to it

This proposal was defended by the left but also a good part of the centrist group Renew Europe. This vote is “a disappointment, a missed opportunity”regretted Renaissance MEP Dominique Riquet.

On the other hand, right-wing groups were rather opposed to it, this was particularly the case of the French elected representatives of the Republicans and the National Rally.

They denounced the risk of deprivation of liberty, administrative burden and pointed out the cost of the measure. “Europe is in its place when it improves people’s lives, not when it complicates it by assuming prerogatives for the sake of harmonizing practices”notably reacted LR MEP François-Xavier Bellamy.

Beyond this point, the report which provides for other measures on the permit was adopted by 339 votes to 240.