Road fatalities in the European Union approached 20,000 last year, prompting the bloc to aim for a significant reduction by 2050.
This week, EU legislators implemented new driving license regulations across the EU, featuring digital licenses and cross-border penalties as part of the effort to lower road deaths.
“The reform is necessary because the world has changed,” stated MEP Jutta Paulus (Germany, Greens/EFA), co-rapporteur on the matter, to the European Newsroom (enr) in Strasbourg on Tuesday. “We need to decrease the annual traffic death toll from 20,000, and this reform is a crucial part of that initiative,” she emphasized.
The reforms are part of the Road Safety Package, aimed at achieving the EU’s “Vision Zero” – zero road deaths and serious injuries by 2050. The target set in 2018 aims to halve road fatalities by 2030 compared to 2019 levels, yet the EU remains far from this goal.
Recent data from the European Commission indicates that 19,940 individuals perished in road incidents in 2024, reflecting a 2% decrease from 2023 and a 12% decline since 2019.
Varied Safety Progress on EU Roads
Per capita, Sweden (20 deaths per million) boasts the safest roads, followed by Malta (21/million) and Denmark (24/million), while Romania (78/million) and Bulgaria (74/million) exhibited the highest fatality rates in 2024. Germany reported 33 deaths per million, below the EU average of 45.
Poland showed the most significant reduction in road fatalities since 2019, with a 35% decrease, reporting 52 deaths per million inhabitants in 2024, down from 77 in 2019, according to European Commission data. Slovenia saw 68 road fatalities in 2024 (32 per million), yet recorded an increase in serious accidents (+11%), prompting ambitious targets for the National Road Safety Program by 2030.
In Spain, the fatality rate stood at 37 deaths per million inhabitants, with distracted driving accounting for 30% of these. Portugal reported 58 deaths per million, implementing periodic revalidation of driving rules for older age groups.
New Regulations for EU Drivers
The newly adopted rules include stricter conditions for obtaining and renewing licenses, enhanced information sharing about serious offenders between member states, and encouragement of digital licenses.
A significant change allows EU-wide driving bans for serious offenses, such as DUI or extreme speeding, rather than confining penalties to the country of the offense.
Currently, nearly 40% of drivers with revoked licenses in a different country evade penalties, according to Italian MEP Matteo Ricci (Italy, S&D). However, MEP Markus Ferber (Germany, EPP) clarified that tourists receiving minor fines
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