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The mobile driving licence manual

A mobile driving licence (mDL) is a type of digital document/electronic attestation that is proof of an individual's right to drive a certain kind of vehicle.

This use case manual explains in practical terms how mobile driving licences will work with EU Digital Identity Wallets. It also provides links to relevant technical and legal resources.

54 million

Current cost of acquiring physical driving licences in the European Union per year.

20 million

Estimated number of driving licences issued per year.

40 - 70 million

Car rentals in Europe per year requiring driving licence verification.

The mobile driving licence user journey

Car rentals

Car rental companies are required to check a driver's right to drive. Users will be able to share their mobile driving licences with them either in person or remotely in advance.

  1. 1.

    Tim visits a car rental website to book a car.

  2. 2.

    The car rental service requests his mDL alongside proof of identity.

  3. 3.

    Tim provides his person identification data (PID) and mDL via his wallet.

  4. 4.

    The car rental service validates the attestations and approves his booking.

  5. 5.

    Tim goes to pick up the car. The car rental service validates his booking attestation and verifies his identity in person via the wallet before handing him the keys.

  6. 6.

    After successful verification, Tim receives the car and hits the road.

Roadside checks

Police or other officials will be able to check a drivers's mobile driving licence when required.

  1. 1.

    Emma is driving her car on the road when she’s stopped by a police officer for a roadside check.

  2. 2.

    The police officer asks Emma to provide her driving licence for verification.

  3. 3.

    Emma presents her MDL using either a QR code or NFC technology.

  4. 4.

    The police officer verifies Emma's driving license either by scanning the QR code (triggered via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi Aware) or by using NFC technology. This includes checking the license’s validity and vehicle entitlements.

  5. 5.

    After successful verification, the officer allows Emma to continue her journey.

Key benefits

Drivers

Added convenience — drivers will always have a digital version of their driving licence stored in their wallet app and ready to share. They may also potentially save money as requesting a physical deriving licence costs individuals between EUR 15 and EUR 30.

Issuers

Reduced costs — procuring physical driving licences costs is estimated to cost 54 million per year in the EU. Mobile driving licences have the potential to greatly reduce these costs.

Service providers

Will simplify roadside checks for police and verifications for car rental companies and potentially allow them to automate more processes.

The legal and technical implementation of mobile driving licences

You can find additional detail in our downloadable use case manual PDF which you can find at the bottom of this page.

Current implementation of mDL per Member State

mDL in use with ISO Standard

Austria

mDLs using other standards

Denmark

Estonia

Greece

Spain

France

Latvia

Lithuania

Portugal

Poland

Slovakia

Czech Republic

mDLs planned but not yet legally valid

Belgium

Cyprus

Finland

Ireland

Germany

Netherlands

Italy

Luxemburg

Who is piloting this use case?

The Large Scale Pilot Potential is developing the mobile driving licence use case for EU Digital Identity Wallets.

Legislation behind mobile driving licences.

The Driving Licence Directive

At EU level, the new Driving Licence Directive would establish default issuance and mutual recognition of mobile driving licences. It would refer to ISO/IEC 18013-5 as a reference standard. Adoption of the Directive is foreseen in the second half of 2025.

The mDL attestation

The mDL attestation is defined in the upcoming Driving Licence Directive. Technical specifications for the attestation will be further detailed in an implementing act.

Issuing and accepting mDLs

Obligations to issue and accept mDL are to be laid down in the upcoming Driving Licence Directive. According to its text, mDLs must be issued to EUDI Wallets.

Technical standards

Technical standards

mDL for EUDI wallets will use the ISO/IEC 18013-5/7 standard.

Data model, format and proof mechanisms

Specifications can be found in ISO 18013-5.

Verification

Specifications on presenting mDL in proximity and remotely are available as ISO standards. Business blueprints on proximity verification flows are also described in the ARF Annex 4: supervised flow and unsupervised flow.
Libraries to facilitate implementation of mDL presentation and verification can be found here.

Trust framework

The new Driving Licence Directive would require Member States to notify the Commission of authorised mDL issuers. The Commission would publish a list of these authorities for verification purposes.
Relying party registration should be implemented in line with the EUDI Wallet requirements and considering specifics of each Member State.

Issuance

Libraries to facilitate issuance of mDL can be found here.
An issuance flow is described in the ARF Annex 4.

Synergies with other EUDI use cases

  • Use cases for photo identification in proximity scenarios
    (e.g. digital identity card, mobile driving licence).
  • Digital receipts stored in the Wallet could be used by the citizen for car rentals.
  • Mobile Vehicle Registration Certificates stored in the wallet.

Want to dive deeper?

Download the full-length mobile driving licence manual to find detailed technical and legal information that will help you get ready to make the most of this use case.

Download detailed Mobile Driving Licence Use Case Manual

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