On 24 February 2022, Russian armed forces initiated a large-scale invasion of Ukraine at multiple locations from the Russian Federation, from Belarus and from non-government-controlled areas of Ukraine. Consequently, substantial areas of Ukrainian territory now constitute areas of armed conflict from which millions of persons have fled or are fleeing.
(2)
As a result of this unprovoked and unjustified military aggression against Ukraine, millions of persons have been displaced. In response, the Council has for the first time established the existence of a mass influx into the Union of displaced persons who have had to leave Ukraine as a consequence of an armed conflict in accordance with Council Directive 2001/55/EC (2) by adopting Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/382 (3), which sets out the categories of displaced persons entitled, in the Union, to temporary protection or adequate protection under national law.
(3)
Driving licences enhance the mobility of their holders and facilitate their everyday lives by permitting them to drive power-driven vehicles. A certificate of professional competence is required for the holder to work as a professional driver transporting goods and passengers for an undertaking established in the Union. In the current context, both types of document promote the participation of persons enjoying temporary protection or adequate protection under national law in economic and social activities in their new environment.
(4)
In accordance with Annex XXXII to the Association Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community and their Member States, of the one part, and Ukraine, of the other part (4), Ukraine has approximated its laws to the provisions of Directive 2003/59/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (5), in particular in order to allow the issuing of the corresponding certificates of professional competence to bus and truck drivers engaged in international operations.
(5)
The Convention on Road Traffic concluded at Vienna on 8 November 1968 (the ‘Vienna Convention on Road Traffic’), to which Ukraine is a party, provides for certain rules which allow for the recognition of driving permits under certain conditions. However, not all Member States are parties to that convention. In addition, there is currently no harmonised Union framework for the exchange of driving licences or certificates of professional competence issued by third countries, such as Ukraine. The requirements related to a possible exchange of driving licences are mostly laid down in the national legislation of Member States, or under existing bilateral agreements between those Member States and Ukraine. Diverging requirements between the different Member States, particularly as regards the recognition of driving licences and certificates of professional competence, may adversely affect the life and the freedoms of displaced persons fleeing Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine, at a time when those persons are especially vulnerable.
(6)
In this context, it is therefore appropriate to have a common Union framework applicable to the recognition of driving licences issued by Ukraine and held by persons enjoying temporary protection or adequate protection under national law. To reduce the burden on such persons and on the authorities of the Member States, driving licences duly issued by Ukraine to those persons should be recognised for as long as the period of their temporary protection lasts, without the need for their holders to exchange them.
(7)
The Vienna Convention on Road Traffic requires the holders of driving permits to present international driving permits for their rights to drive to be recognised in certain cases. Such holders may also be required to present a certified translation of their driving permits. However, those requirements constitute a disproportionate burden on the people displaced from Ukraine and are unlikely to be complied with in many cases. Therefore, such persons enjoying temporary protection or adequate protection under national law should not be required to present such documents on the territory of the Union. That recognition should be without prejudice to the application of criminal and police rules, subject to the principle of territoriality.
(8)
Despite the fact that Ukraine has already approximated its national law to Directive 2003/59/EC for drivers engaged in international transport operations, Ukrainian professional drivers seeking to work for road transport undertakings established in the Union still need to complete the appropriate qualification and training in a Member State. It should therefore be possible for Member States to issue a driver qualification card, as referred to in Directive 2003/59/EC, to the persons concerned, or to mark the special temporary Union code ‘95.01 (max 06.03.2025)’ on the relevant driving licence, to persons enjoying temporary protection or adequate protection under national law and holding the driver qualification card issued by Ukraine in accordance with the Ukrainian national legislation for the purpose of giving to the persons concerned rights on a temporary basis similar to those of the persons qualified to carry out the activity of driving covered by Article 1 of Directive 2003/59/EC. To that end, Member States may adopt national rules laying down the scope and duration of complementary compulsory training and of a subsequent test, in order to ensure that the persons concerned meet the standards of Directive 2003/59/EC. In the case of a declaration of the loss or theft of a driver qualification card issued by Ukraine, Member States should be in a position to verify, including with the competent authorities of Ukraine, that the person concerned holds a valid certificate of professional competence issued by Ukraine. As a complementary measure, it should be possible for the special temporary Union code to be marked on the driver attestation issued for the driver.
(9)
As driving licences and driver qualification cards usually have a limited period of validity, they need to be regularly renewed. The current context does not allow Ukraine to carry out its tasks in a normal fashion, which is why it may not be in a position to renew existing administrative documents. Member States should therefore take into account information that Ukraine may provide to them and to the Commission through official channels.
(10)
The circumstances of fleeing war often entail the loss or theft of driving licences, or their being left behind in the war zone without an immediate possibility of recovering them. In such case, Member States should be allowed to issue temporary driving licences that replace the original ones for the duration of the temporary protection, provided that the competent authorities of the Member States are in a position to verify the information provided by the displaced persons, for example by accessing the national registers of Ukraine. Such temporary driving licences should be mutually recognised in the Union, and their administrative validity should not exceed the duration of the temporary protection.
(11)
The issuance of temporary driving licences in the case of lost or stolen Ukrainian driving licences and the establishment of complementary compulsory training sessions for holders of the driver qualification card are optional measures that might require proportionate national implementing measures. Such national measures should be adopted in accordance with the relevant procedures set in each Member State.
(12)
The fight against fraud and forgery is instrumental in maintaining road safety and law enforcement. In this respect, the implementation of this Regulation should be accompanied by administrative cooperation between Ukraine and the Union for the purpose of supporting the verification of the validity and authenticity of driver documents issued by Ukraine.
(13)
Since the objective of this Regulation cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States but can rather, by reason of the scale and effects of the action, be better achieved at Union level, the Union may adopt measures in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU). In accordance with the principle of proportionality as set out in that Article, this Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve that objective.
(14)
To minimise the administrative burden on Member States and avoid multiple renewals, the expiry date recorded on driver documents issued in accordance with this Regulation should correspond to the current maximum possible duration of the temporary protection in respect of displaced persons from Ukraine, taking into account the possible extensions thereof pursuant to Article 4 of Directive 2001/55/EC. However, notwithstanding the expiry recorded on the documents, their validity should correspond to the duration of the temporary protection.
(15)
In view of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the urgency to lay down specific and temporary measures concerning driver documents issued by Ukraine in accordance with its legislation, it is considered to be appropriate to invoke the exception to the eight-week period provided for in Article 4 of Protocol No 1 on the role of national Parliaments in the European Union, annexed to the TEU, to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and to the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community.
(16)
In view of the need to lay down specific and temporary measures concerning driver documents issued by Ukraine in accordance with its legislation without delay, this Regulation should enter into force as a matter of urgency on the fifth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
(17)
In view of the exceptional circumstances that justify this Regulation and the specific objectives pursued, it is appropriate that its application be limited in time,
