THE European Parliament has voted to phase out paper driving licences across Europe within 10 years, when a common national 'credit card' model would be introduced.
MEPs also voted for a single EU driving licence to be introduced within 20 years.
These amendments to a proposed European Union (EU) driving licence directive would have to be backed by the EU Council of Ministers to come into force.
Other changes approved by the parliament included authorisation for member states to add microchips to licences as an anti-fraud measure and also that just one agency should issue these documents per EU country.
MEPs voted to link these organisations via a European network enabling them to check whether a driving licence had been withdrawn in one country, preventing it being reissued in another.