Fewer mandatory special driving lessons, online theory classes and the possibility of private practice sessions: Federal Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder (CDU) wants to make obtaining a driver’s license more affordable. “The driver’s license is simply too expensive in Germany,” Schnieder said on Wednesday in Berlin while presenting revised key points of the reform agreed with representatives of the federal states. The TÜV association criticized the reform plans, stating that “a ‘light driving test’ must not be introduced.”
Among the proposals is the trial of so-called “layman training,” under which learner drivers would be allowed to gain driving experience with people close to them. To this end, a five-year “experimental clause” is to be introduced, allowing federal states to test this option. According to the Federal Statistical Office, the cost of obtaining a driver’s license rose disproportionately between 2021 and 2024, increasing more sharply than overall consumer prices. Schnieder pointed to Luxembourg as an example: there, a driver’s license costs an average of 1,500 euros, compared with an average of 3,400 euros in Germany.
Luxembourg and Austria already allow layman training, Schnieder said. Under the plans, after passing the theory test, completing six practical lessons and receiving theoretical instruction together with the accompanying person, learners would be required to complete 1,000 kilometres of supervised driving practice in a marked vehicle.
Further driving school lessons would follow, including the special driving sessions. “At the moment, we have twelve special driving lessons, while European law does not require any,” Schnieder said. These special sessions are therefore to be reduced to three for a standard car license, one on the motorway, one on rural and federal roads, and one at night.
The key points also provide for theory test preparation to be conducted entirely online, for example via apps. “We also want to declutter the question catalogue for the theory test,” Schnieder said. The number of questions is to be reduced by one-third to around 840. Driving schools would remain obligated to teach the knowledge required under EU rules, Schnieder added. He stressed regarding the planned reform: “None of our proposals comes at the expense of road safety, that is and remains the red line.”
According to the key points, the practical driving test would in future last only 40 minutes, with actual driving time of 25 minutes. Currently, it lasts 55 minutes with 30 minutes of driving time.
The TÜV association described the revised plans as “unbalanced” and criticized “blanket cuts to the question catalogue and test durations.” A “light driving test” would “undo decades of success in road safety,” TÜV expert Richard Goebelt said. The association had proposed the introduction of mandatory learning progress checks. These are “a simple instrument to reduce failure rates in the theory test,” Goebelt explained. “Fewer repeat exams are the most effective way to achieve real cost reductions.”
According to the TÜV association, the number of driving tests in Germany reached a new all-time high in 2025. However, the record numbers in recent years have been “driven by repeat examinations,” Goebelt said. Schnieder declined to estimate on Wednesday how much money could be saved through the reform plans. There would not immediately be a “new price tag” on the driver’s license. Anyone wishing to obtain a license should not wait but get started, Schnieder said.
Driving schools have complained of a massive drop in registration numbers since Schnieder announced the reform last autumn. SPD parliamentary group manager Dirk Wiese criticized delays on Wednesday, saying Schnieder had “let a lot of time pass,” which had led to “considerable uncertainty.”
Meanwhile, the Left Party said Schnieder’s plans did not go far enough. “The theoretical driver training belongs as a regular offering in schools,” party co-leader Ines Schwerdtner reiterated. That would make the “affordability of the driver’s license noticeably and immediately” better.
However, the Federal Association of Driving Instructor Associations (BVF) sharply criticized the driver’s license reform planned by Federal Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder, calling the proposal “absolutely appalling” and describing it as a “massive attack on road safety.” BVF vice-chairman Kurt Bartels told the Rheinische Post that Germany’s current system is designed around road safety and that “Mr. Schnieder is simply wiping that away.”
He argued that many subject areas can “only be taught through in-person instruction,” adding that experiences during the Covid pandemic had already shown that distance learning did not produce better results, “on the contrary.” According to Bartels, the reform proposals would not result in any cost savings and were “purely political statements that ignore reality.”
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