Amendments to regulation on professional qualifications in road transport

The professional qualification requirements for lorry, bus and coach drivers set out in the Driving Licence Act and the Act on Transport Services have been updated to meet the requirements in EU legislation. The President of the Republic approved the amendments on 9 July 2020, and they entered into force on 13 July 2020.

The amendments implement the changes made to the Directive on driving licences and the Directive on the initial qualification and periodic training of drivers of certain road vehicles for the carriage of goods or passengers.

The amendments specify the exceptions to the requirements for professional qualifications, clarify the system of credit transfer towards qualification training, and authorise the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency to disclose information on professional qualifications to the authorities of other Member States for supervisory purposes.

At the same time, a number of other amendments, independent of the directive, were introduced to the acts. Among the most important ones are the amendment applying to the storage of documents on professional qualifications of lorry, bus and coach drivers as well as the addition to the Driving Licence Act according to which night-time epileptic seizures would be considered equal with seizures that happen while awake. In addition, the amendment to the Driving Licence Act will clarify the details regarding the maintenance of student records in driving schools.

Parliament requires that the Government monitor closely how the exceptions to the requirements for professional qualifications for lorry, bus and coach drivers function in practice and how compliance with the provisions is monitored. The Government should ensure that the provisions work in practise and, if necessary, take steps to further specify the exceptions.

Further provisions on the professional qualifications of lorry, bus and coach drivers will be laid down later in a Government decree implementing the other amendments required by the directive.

More information

Saara Louko, Senior Specialist, tel. +358 50 530 1472 (as of 1 August)

Monika Mutanen, Senior Officer, tel. +358 50 478 4820 (until 9 August)

Sini Wirén, Director of Unit, tel. +358 40 507 0916, Twitter @WirenSini (until 17 July)