Germany to make getting a driving licence cheaper from 2027

The German parliament is set to vote on a reform that should make the process of getting a driving licence more digitised, easier, quicker and cheaper. But some parties are unconvinced by the changes.

Bundestag to vote on driving licence reform

The process of getting a driving licence in Germany, including driving lessons, tests and administration, currently racks up to an average of 3.400 euros. Now, Federal Transport Minister Steffen Bilger (CDU) wants to digitise parts of the process and make it easier, quicker and cheaper overall.

As such, Bundestag members will vote on amendments to the Road Traffic Act and the Driving Instructors Act on November 5. In another step of the reform, the transport ministry plans to change how driving school training is organised, though the Bundesrat, which represents the 16 federal states, must also approve these changes.

This is because, while the federal government is responsible for laws around driving schools and instructor regulations, federal states are responsible for issuing driving licences and regulating driving schools.

“The potential for cost savings for 800.000 learner drivers each year depends largely on how the federal states now develop the regulation further in the Bundesrat,” Henning Rehbaum (CDU) told the dpa. 

When the reform was initially announced, ministers said that, if passed, the new rules would apply from January 2027. Now, the prospective implementation date has been delayed to July 1, 2027.

What would the German driving licence reform change?

So, if the reform passes, which new rules would apply?

• Driving school prices and pass rates will be published on an online database, making it easier for learner drivers and parents to compare prices and quality.
• Learner drivers would be allowed to decide whether they would like to complete theory lessons via an app at home, hybrid in a driving school or, as previously required, entirely in person at a driving school.
• Documentation and evaluation requirements of driving schools will be reduced.
• The number of questions in the theory test question bank will be significantly reduced.
• Currently, learners aiming for a car driving licence (Class B) must complete 12 “special” practical driving lessons (Sonderfahrten), which include country roads, motorways and night-time driving, and each lasts 45 minutes. The standard minimum number of Sonderfahrten will be scrapped and will instead be based on an instructor's assessment of the student’s abilities.
• Germany will also follow Austria’s example and allow learner drivers more opportunity to practice informally with family members. Going forward, learner drivers who have passed a theory test and completed six lessons with a driving school will be allowed to practice driving with a “lay instructor” with whom they have a “particularly close relationship”, e.g. a parent. The “lay instructor” must have held their licence for at least seven years and have no more than one penalty point on their licence.
• Currently, Class B driving tests last 55 minutes, with 30 minutes for driving and the remainder for manoeuvres. These rules will now be adjusted to the EU minimum of 25 minutes of driving, with the test lasting 40 minutes in total.

Critics question Bilger’s cost-saving claims

Speaking to Die Welt, transport minister Bilger claimed the reform would save learner drivers several hundred euros and, in the best-case scenario, up to 1.000 euros. 

Bilger said savings would vary depending on learners' abilities and “significant regional differences”. According to ADAC, the reform could save learners up to a third of the current cost of getting a licence. 

But Kurt Bartels, Vice-Chairman of the Federal Association of Driving Instructors’ Associations (BVF), is puzzled by how Bilger got to this figure. “I cannot understand Mr Bilger’s calculation that a driving licence is set to become 1.000 euros cheaper,” Bartels told the dpa. 

The Moving International Road Safety Association e.V. agrees that the 1.000 euro figure is unrealistic according to the current reform plan. Moving has said that while scrapping unnecessary documentation requirements is a sensible approach, it criticises plans to scrap face-to-face tuition.

The BVF agrees that entirely remote theory lessons cannot replace the educational advantages of in-person learning, and it criticised the introduction of “lay instruction”. “Lay training by lay people is for lay people,” the BVF wrote in a paper.