Plans to lower the costs of obtaining a driverâs licence in Germany look set to move forward following the Transport Ministers' Conference, which was recently held in Lindau on Lake Constance in Bavaria.
At the conference, the federal transport minister, as well as those from the German states, agreed on a number of measures intended to make the process to get a driverâs licence cheaper and simpler.
State transport ministers had flagged the too high cost of getting a driverâs licence as a major issue for their constituents about a year ago in April 2025. Federal Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder then put together a plan to reduce costs, in part by digitalising and simplifying parts of the process, in October of last year.
Schnieder dampened expectations in December, cautioning that it would ânot be worth waitingâ for costs to fall.Â
But having now secured support from ministers across the German states, the federal transport minister has put forward January 1st, 2027 as the target date by when these changes could take effect.
What did the transport ministers agree on?
The top-line news is that state and federal transport ministers have all agreed to support a plan to reduce licence costs. This allows the proposal to move forward, and gives Schnieder confidence to aim for implementing the plan by the start of next year.
The goal is a "digital, low-bureaucracy and ultimately cheaper" driver's license without compromising safety, explained Schnieder.
"Our common goal is a low price," added Bavaria's Transport Minister and conference chairman, Christian Bernreiter.
Some of the planned measures that were agreed on include:
- Reducing the required number of âspecial tripsâ that students should drive with an instructor from 12 down to at least three
- Theory classes could be offered online or in hybrid form, as opposed to only in classrooms
- Â Digital and flexible forms of learning from face-to-face to online
- The list of potential theory test questions should be reduced by about 30 percent
READ ALSO: 'A year-long ordeal' - What I learned from getting my driving licence in Berlin
There has also been talk of letting young students complete some of their practice hours behind the wheel with their parents. This would reduce the total number of hours students need to pay to drive alongside a certified teacher.
This proposal is not to be adopted immediately, but Federal Transport Minister Schnieder suggests the model could be initially tested via an experimentation clause in the law, i.e. it could be adopted on an initial short-term basis and evaluated. Comparable models already exist in the neighbouring countries of Austria and Luxembourg.
Other transport plans
Beside driverâs licence costs, the transport ministers also had to discuss the creation of a price index for the Deutschlandticket and how to better protect railway employees on German trains.
How high the price will be in 2027 should be determined by the end of September at the latest. At the beginning of this year, the price of the nationwide Deutschlandticket had risen to âŹ63 per month.
Following the fatal attack of a train conductor on a regional train, officials have sought a plan to improve safety for railway employees. The Railway and Transport Company (EVG) union had put forward a demand that all ticket conductors should work on trains in pairs.
Transport ministers at the conference did not fully back this proposal. Instead they agreed that the number of staff should be âregional and demand orientedâ.
READ ALSO: Everything that changes for drivers in Germany in 2026
Comments