Case C‑195/16

Criminal proceedings

against

I

(Request for a preliminary ruling from the Amtsgericht Kehl)

(Reference for a preliminary ruling — Transport — Driving licences — Directive 2006/126/EC — Article 2(1) — Mutual recognition of driving licences — Definition of ‘driving licence’ — Driving licence pass certificate authorising its holder to drive in the Member State having awarded it before the issue of the definitive driving licence — Situation in which the holder of a test pass certificate drives a vehicle in another Member State — Obligation to recognise the test pass certificate — Penalties imposed on the holder of the test pass certificate for driving a vehicle outside of the Member State in which it was awarded — Proportionality)

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber), 26 October 2017

1. Transport—Road transport—Driving licences—Directive 2006/126—Mutual recognition of driving licences—The refusal of a Member State to recognise the validity of a certificate issued by another Member State evidencing the holder’s right to drive, but not fulfilling the requirements of the model driving licence provided for in the directive—Lawfulness

   (Arts 18 TFEU, 21 TFEU, 45 TFEU, 49 TFEU and 56 TFEU; European Parliament and Council Directive 2006/126, Art. 2(1))

2. Transport—Road transport—Driving licences—Directive 2006/126—Mutual recognition of driving licences—Penalties imposed on a person driving a vehicle in a Member State without a licence in conformity with the directive—Possession, by the person concerned, of a driving licence pass certificate issued by another Member State authorising driving in that Member State before the issue of the definitive driving licence—Taking into account as a mitigating circumstance

   (Arts 18 TFEU, 21 TFEU, 45 TFEU, 49 TFEU and 56 TFEU; European Parliament and Council Directive 2006/126, Art. 2(1))

1.  Article 2(1) of Directive 2006/126/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 2006 on driving licences and Articles 18, 21, 45, 49 and 56 TFEU must be interpreted as not precluding legislation of a Member State under which that Member State may refuse to recognise a certificate issued in another Member State evidencing its holder’s right to drive, where that certificate does not fulfil the requirements of the model driving licence provided for in that directive, even if the conditions set by that directive for issuing a driving licence have been satisfied by the holder of that certificate.

   (see para. 63, operative part 1)

2.  Article 2(1) of Directive 2006/126 and Articles 21, 45, 49 and 56 TFEU must be interpreted as not precluding a Member State from imposing a penalty on a person who, despite having satisfied the conditions for the issuing of a driving licence as provided for in that directive, drives a motor vehicle in that Member State without a driving licence conforming to the model driving licence provided for in that directive and who, pending the issuing of such a driving licence by another Member State, can prove only that he has been granted the right to drive in another Member State by means of a temporary certificate issued by that Member State, provided that that penalty is not disproportionate to the seriousness of the facts at issue. It is thus for the referring court to take into account, in its assessment of the seriousness of the offence committed by the person in question and of the severity of the penalty to be imposed on him, as a potentially mitigating circumstance, the fact that that person had been granted the right to drive in another Member State, evidenced by a certificate issued by that other Member State which will, in principle, be exchanged before its expiry, at that person’s request, for a driving licence conforming to the requirements of the model driving licence provided for in Directive 2006/126. That court must also consider, in the context of its assessment, what actual risk that person posed for road safety in its territory.

   (see para. 79, operative part 2)