New EU Driving Licence Directive

The European Parliament and the member states have agreed on an amendment to the EU driving licence directive, which includes a special regulation for motor caravans: According to this, the permissible total weight for holders of a B driving licence is to be increased to 4.25 tonnes for motor caravans. The revised driving licence directive offers the opportunity to make sustainable and family-friendly travel by motor caravan accessible to even more people.

With the introduction of the B driving licence in 1999, the steadily growing number of motor caravan drivers in Germany was increasingly divided into two classes. While motor caravans with a permissible total weight of up to 7.5 tonnes may still be driven with the old class 3 driving licence, holders of the B driving licence are only permitted to drive motor caravans up to 3.5 tonnes. The limit of 3.5 tonnes is quickly reached for many reasons: modern motor caravans are safer and more environmentally friendly than ever before. However, they have also become heavier – not least due to safety and emissions requirements that are prescribed by EU law. With the long-term aim of switching to alternative drives, vehicle weight is likely to increase further in the future.

This is why the Caravaning Industrie Verband (CIVD) has been campaigning for many years via its European umbrella organisation ‘European Caravan Federation’ (ECF) for an extension of the weight limit for the B driving licence at EU level.

 

Overview of the new regulation

In future, holders of a B driving licence will be able to drive motor caravans with a total weight of up to 4.25 tonnes, provided they complete special training or a test. Whether training, a test or both are required is at the discretion of the individual member states.

An additional test is not required for all alternatively fuelled vehicles if the driver has been in possession of a driving licence for at least two years. In Germany, the implementation of the directives into national law is expected in 2029.

The amendment of the EU Driving Licence Directive offers the opportunity to make nature-oriented, sustainable and family-friendly holidays in a motor caravan even more accessible for millions of people – especially for young and future generations – and thus makes a positive contribution to the development of tourism in Germany and Europe.