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The law · European Union

Driver CPC — Directive 2022/2561

Directive (EU) 2022/2561 on the initial qualification and periodic training of drivers of certain road vehicles for the carriage of goods or passengers

Last review · 24 September 2026

What it is

Directive 2022/2561 is the codified text of the driver CPC rules (it replaced Directive 2003/59/EC): professional drivers of lorries and coaches need an initial qualification and then periodic training to keep driving for a living.

Annex I lists the subjects of both, and that list is the syllabus of every driver CPC course in the EU — the second family of the corpus on this site.

Where it applies

Every EU member state, for drivers of vehicles requiring a category C1, C, D1 or D licence (and their E variants) who drive professionally; exemptions in article 2.

What to know

  1. 01Initial qualification: a course and exam (or an exam only) before driving professionally; it is shown by code 95 on the licence or on a driver qualification card.
  2. 02Periodic training: 35 hours every five years, which may be split into sessions of at least seven hours.
  3. 03Annex I groups the subjects into three: rational driving based on safety rules; application of regulations (driving times, tachograph, transport documents); and health, road and environmental safety, service and logistics.
  4. 04The directive codifies, it does not change: certificates issued under Directive 2003/59/EC remain valid, and that older reference is treated as superseded on this site.
  5. 05Driver CPC is separate from the transport-manager CPC of Regulation 1071/2009: different person, different exam, different renewal.
  6. 06Periodic training runs in periods of at least seven hours (a period may be split over two consecutive days), with at most 12 hours by e-learning.
  7. 07Directive (EU) 2025/2205 on driving licences amends article 5: coach and bus drivers may drive categories D and D1 from 21 with either CPC, and Member States may let 17-year-olds holding a CPC drive lorries (C1, C) when accompanied. Transposition by 26 November 2028; it applies from 26 November 2029, the accompanied scheme from 26 November 2028.

Who needs to know it

  • Professional lorry and coach drivers and those about to become one.
  • Training centres that deliver the initial qualification and the 35-hour periodic courses.
  • Transport managers, who must keep every driver’s code 95 in date.

An informative summary, not legal advice. Always check the current text of the rule before deciding.