Not only does it take up to 18 months for many Portuguese residents to receive their driving licence, the European Commission is taking court action against Portugal’s government for failing to get up-to-date with European driving licence legislation.
After warnings have been ignored, Portugal along with Estonia, Italy, Slovenia and the Czech Republic are still not integrated or linked to the Europe-wide driving licence system called RESPER.*
"The European Commission has decided to sue the Czech Republic, Estonia, Italy, Portugal and Slovenia in the EU Court of Justice as these countries have not correctly transposed the European legislation on driving licences," leaving the countries not yet linked to the EU driving licence network (RESPER) as required by an EC directive back in 2006.
Brussels explained that this network is used to help member states work together to ensure that licences are issued in accordance with EU standards; the start date was 19 January, 2013.
The European Commission started infringement proceedings in July 2014, and sent 'reasoned opinions' to the reluctant member states in February 2015 which, in Portugal's case has been ignored.
As these proceedings had zero affect, so the Commission applied to the Court of Justice.
The directive was quite simple and sensible, introducing as it did new driving license categories while setting a deadline for all states to harmonise their documentation and established a network for the exchange of driving license information.
This RESPER system was designed to "reduce the possibilities of fraud, ensure a true freedom of movement for EU drivers and reinforce safety on European roads."
The directive made clear that driving licences can only be issued by countries if the applicant is a habitual resident. The use of RESPER helps those member states that bothered to join the system, to ensure that one person cannot hold multiple driving licences.
The former Minister for the Economy Pires de Lima presided over a massive foul-up in the Portuguese driving licence renewal and application system, with some licences taking 18 months to be issued despite applicants paying €50 up front for the service.
In an official admission that something possibly might be amiss, Pires de Lima said in March 2015 that there had been "discomfort with the waiting times for the renewal of driving licences, especially for people who need them for their jobs.” This understatement was greeted with derision by those whose licence applications were taking a year or more to be processed.
In March 2014, Portugal's issuing authority started using the new 'Sistema de Obtenção Fiável de Imagem e Assinatura,' roughly translated as the Reliable System for Obtaining Images and Signatures, or SOFIA for short.
This technology clearly failed to produce the intended results and drivers started to experience processing delays that even for Portugal were excessive. By April 2015 the backlog admitted to by Secretary of State Sergio Monteiro was 280,000.
Portugal has had years to link its driving licence systems to the European standard, useful in combatting fraud and terrorism, but has simply failed to do so for no good reason.
Political lethargy and incompetence has ensured this vital public service runs poorly and is not linked to Europen partners.
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* RESPER is a telematic network established across the EU. It is a hub for the exchange of information between national authorities responsible for issuing driving licences, in particular to guarantee recognition of documents and acquired rights originating in other Member States, combat document fraud and avoid the issuance of multiple licences.
Moreover, the European Court of Justice has recently identified an obligation for Member States to exchange information on driving licences under certain circumstances.
In view of the very large number of documents in circulation and licence holders changing normal residence between Member States each year, only a telematic network such as RESPER is able to carry out the above tasks systematically and efficiently.
RESPER has been created with the following objectives:
• to increase document security by effectively verifying the validity of licences issued
by other Member States and thus combating document fraud;
• to facilitate free movement of licence holders by recognizing their acquired rights in
other Member States;
• to enhance road safety by facilitating voluntary cross-border enforcement of
sanctions for traffic violations.
