EU sets new driver’s licence card deadlines for Germany and Austria

Germany is required to replace its old paper and plastic driver’s licences with a new EU‑wide, fraud‑proof card. About 15 million paper licences and 28 million plastic cards must be exchanged at the local licensing authority for a fee of roughly €25. The new licence is valid for 15 years; failure to exchange by the stipulated deadline results in a €10 administrative fine. Deadlines vary by birth year and issue date, with the latest cut‑off for licences issued between 2002 and 2004 being 19 January 2027.

In Austria, paper licences must be swapped for the new card by 19 January 2033. The exchange costs €73 and requires a personal visit to a district authority with a passport‑type photo. Over 7.5 million paper licences remain in circulation, raising concerns that a surge of applications near the deadline could cause weeks‑long waiting times at the offices, echoing past passport‑issuance bottlenecks.