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A new digital era dawns for Europe’s motorists and road safety authorities. Motorists will be able to have a mobile version of their licences immediately accessible on their phones, that they can use across Europe and beyond, alongside their physical licences. 
 
The introduction of mobile licences is part of a European Union directive proposed in 2023, aimed at enhancing the free movement of persons and goods across borders. This aligns with a broader trend of offering digital official credentials to complement or replace physical documents.  
 
Research by consultants ABI forecasts that the total number of digital credentials issued globally will exceed 1 billion by 2027. 
 

Convenience and global interoperability 
 

By complementing physical cards, digital driving licences bring obvious advantages of convenience and accessibility for consumers.  
 
EU digital driving licences will be based on an international standard1 ensuring seamless use not just across European countries but potentially further afield, in Australia and the United States, which are also adopting the same mobile driving licences standard.  
 
Beyond driving, digital licences could also serve more broadly as valid and potentially customizable official IDs. 
 
Each EU member country is supposed to transpose the EU directive into national law within the next two years. While implementing mobile licences will pose a significant challenge, it also presents opportunities for Europe’s road safety authorities.  
 
They will first need to undergo a digital transformation of their own, developing new capabilities to issue and manage both digital and physical credentials that they will continue to handle. Cybersecurity is a key concern. In a survey Thales conducted in 2023, 78% of issuing agencies said that managing increased security risks was their biggest challenge. 

 
While the transformation may be disruptive, and comes at a cost, mastering both digital and physical formats is likely to generate numerous synergies between the two, enabling the agencies to benefit from the required investment. They will have an opportunity to offer innovative, cost-effective value-added services and generally create better services for citizens. For example, citizens could report lost or stolen physical licenses directly through their mobile license app, improving efficiency and service quality.   
 
The timeline for launching new digital licences remains uncertain, with issues pertaining to infrastructure and interoperability, among others, still needing to be ironed out before cross-border acceptance becomes a reality.  
 
The EU directive defines common rules for issuance, including standards for formats and length of validity, among other details. It also stipulates that the mobile licence will need to comply both with the mandatory standard specifications and existing EU Digital Identity Wallet regulations.  
The EU digital wallet is also an innovative project underway: it aims to provide a secure and easy way for European citizens, residents, and businesses to prove who they are when accessing digital services, including sharing documents and electronically signing or sealing them. 
 
EU institutions—the EU Commission, which proposed the directive, the EU Parliament, and the EU Council— are still debating key details . For example, to prevent discrimination and exacerbating a digital divide, citizens will have a choice of receiving a digital licence along with a physical one, or whether they will receive both formats by default. In either case, for road safety authorities, acquiring the capabilities to handle both formats will be an opportunity. 
 
Overall, the advent of this new era represents a pivotal milestone in Europe’s digital transformation toward enhanced simplicity and efficiency. It is poised to impact roughly 60% of the population, many of whom are highly skilled in digital technologies and eager for modernized public services.  

Lessons from early adopters 
 

Countries that have already introduced digital licences provide valuable positive insights. 

In Australia, the Queensland Digital Licence app released in November 2023 attracted half a million users in just seven months. The app's consent-driven design empowers users to manage their identity: drivers can chose to present or share information by selecting from predefined use cases, ensuring that only the relevant information for the transaction are disclosed. One popular feature is the “proof of age” function, which displays an “over 18” screen without exposing date of birth, address, or driving information.  

The road ahead for Europe’s digital licences 
 

The new era of mobile licences is a considerable opportunity and marks a major milestone on Europe’s digital journey.  
 
A lot of hard work will still be needed to make it a reality.  
 
Road safety authorities must now start the journey by exploring the best use cases and defining an ambitious vision for what the mobile licence can and should do.  
 
They will need to identify partners who can best support that vision and help map out the roadmap and milestones leading to full deployment. 
 
The journey toward digital driving licences is just beginning—and the time to prepare is now.