L 403/18 Official Journal of the European Union 30.12.2006 DIRECTIVE 2006/ 126/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 20 December 2006 on driving licences (Recast) (Text with EEA relevance) THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EURO- PEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Com- munity, and in particular Article 71 thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee ('), After consulting the Committee of the Regions, Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty (), Whereas: Council Directive 91/439/EEC of 29 July 1991 on driving licences () has been significantly amended on several occasions. Now that new amendments are being made to the said Directive, it is desirable, in order to clarify matters, that the provisions in question should be recast. The rules on driving licences are essential elements of the common transport policy, contribute to improving road safety, and facilitate the free movement of persons taking up residence in a Member State other than the one issuing the licence. Given the importance of individual means of transport, possession of a driving licence duly recognised by a host Member State promotes free move- ment and freedom of establishment of persons. Despite the progress achieved with harmonising the rules on driving licences, significant differences have persisted between Member States in the rules on periodicity of licences renewal and on subcategories of vehicles, which () 0JC112,30.4.2004, p. 34. (3 Opinion of the European Parliament of 23 February 2005 (O] C 304 E, 1.12.2005, p. 202), Council Common Position of 18 September 2006 (O] C 295 E, 5.12.2006, p. 1) and Position of the European Parliament of 14 December 2006 (not yet published in the Official Journal). Council Decision of 19 December 2006. () OJL No 237,24.8.1991, IIJ‘I 1. Directive as last amended by Regulation (EC) 1882/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council (O] L 284, 31 10.2003, p. 1). needed to be harmonised more fully, in order to contri- bute to the implementation of Community policies. The possibility of laying down national provisions with regard to the period of validity provided for in Directive 91/439/EEC leads to the co-existence of different rules in different Member States and over 110 different models of driving licences valid in the Member States. This creates problems of transparency for citizens, police forces and the administrations responsible for the administration of driving licences and leads to the falsification of docu- ments which sometimes date back several decades. In order to prevent the single European driving licence model from becoming an additional model to the 110 already in circulation, Member States should take all necessary measures to issue this single model to all licence holders. This Directive should not prejudice existing entitlements to drive granted or acquired before its date of application. Driving licences are mutually recognised. Member States should be able to apply the period of validity prescribed by this Directive to a licence without a limited adminis- trative validity issued by another Member State and whose holder has resided on their territory for more than two years. The introduction of a period of administrative validity for new driving licences should make it possible to apply at the time of periodic renewal the most recent counter- falsification measures and the medical examinations or other measures provided for by the Member States.