Visual acuity: at least 0.8 in the better eye and 0.1 in the worse eye, with correction if needed.
Glasses: not stronger than plus eight dioptres, or contact lenses. The correction must be well tolerated.
Field of vision: at least 160 degrees horizontally, with at least 70 left and right and 30 up and down.
Ruled out: impaired contrast sensitivity and double vision.
What follows is what European law requires, quoted verbatim from the source. It isn't medical advice and says nothing about your specific situation.
Whether you're fit to drive is for the examining doctor alone, and the decision on your licence sits with the competent authority in your country. If you have doubts, go there, not to a website.
Check which text applies
The original 2006 driving licence directive contained different eye figures. Those were replaced in 2009. If you come across a standard online that differs from what's below, check whether it's quoting the old text.
Everything on this page comes from the replacement text, and applies to group 2, the group covering C, CE, D and DE.
Visual acuity and correction
Applicants for a driving licence or for the renewal of such a licence shall have a visual acuity, with corrective lenses if necessary, of at least 0,8 in the better eye and at least 0,1 in the worse eye. If corrective lenses are used to attain the values of 0,8 and 0,1, the minimum acuity (0,8 and 0,1) must be achieved either by correction by means of glasses with a power not exceeding plus eight dioptres, or with the aid of contact lenses. The correction must be well tolerated.
Directive 2006/126/EC, Annex III, point 6.4, as replaced by Commission Directive 2009/113/EC. Accessed 26 August 2026.
Three things stand out. The requirement applies with corrective lenses if necessary, so glasses or lenses aren't a disqualifier on their own. There's an upper limit of plus eight dioptres on glasses, but that limit doesn't apply to contact lenses. And the correction has to be well tolerated, which the doctor assesses.
The two values go together: 0.8 in the better eye and 0.1 in the worse eye.
Field of vision
Moreover, the horizontal visual field with both eyes should be at least 160 degrees, the extension should be at least 70 degrees left and right and 30 degrees up and down. No defects should be present within a radius of the central 30 degrees.
Directive 2006/126/EC, Annex III, point 6.4.
For group 1 the horizontal requirement is 120 degrees, for group 2 it's 160. There's also a requirement that's often skipped over: within a radius of the central 30 degrees, no defects may be present. That's about loss right in the centre of your field of view, not at the edges.
What rules the licence out
Driving licences shall not be issued to or renewed for applicants or drivers suffering from impaired contrast sensitivity or from diplopia.
Directive 2006/126/EC, Annex III, point 6.4.
Diplopia is double vision. Unlike the acuity requirement, there's no margin or correction option written in here: the text says licences shall not be issued or renewed.
After losing sight in one eye
After a substantial loss of vision in one eye, there should be an appropriate adaptation period (for example six months) during which the subject is not allowed to drive. After this period, driving is only allowed after a favourable opinion from vision and driving experts.
Directive 2006/126/EC, Annex III, point 6.4.
Note how this is worded. It says an appropriate adaptation period, with six months as an example, not a fixed term. And after that, driving is only allowed again following a favourable opinion from vision and driving experts.
The general provision above it
Above the group split sits a general rule about what the examination looks at: visual acuity, field of vision, twilight vision, glare and contrast sensitivity, and progressive eye disease. It also states that intraocular lenses are not considered corrective lenses for the purposes of this Annex.
Directive 2006/126/EC, Annex III, point 6.
And your country may set the bar higher
Here too, Member States may set stricter standards. The figures above are the European floor, not necessarily what applies in your country. See the medical exam for licence C for how that works.
What's coming: Directive (EU) 2025/2205
On 22 October 2025 the EU adopted a new driving licence directive, Directive (EU) 2025/2205. It replaces Directive 2006/126/EC, but not yet.
Directive 2006/126/EC is repealed with effect from 26 November 2029, except for Article 6(4), point (c), thereof, which is repealed with effect from 26 November 2027.
Directive (EU) 2025/2205, Article 30(1).
Until 26 November 2029, Directive 2006/126/EC as transposed nationally still applies. Everything above on this page is current law. References to the old directive afterwards are read as references to the new one, per the correlation table in Annex VII.
For you as a driver: the values that affect you don't change materially through the transposition. What changes is the numbering of where things are found. We'll review this page again before 2029.
Also read
Sources
- Directive 2006/126/EC on driving licences, Annex III, point 6.4 (group 2), as replaced by Commission Directive 2009/113/EC of 25 August 2009. EUR-Lex
- Directive 2006/126/EC, Annex III, point 6, for the general examination provision. EUR-Lex
Legal text quoted verbatim from the consolidated/official English versions on EUR-Lex, accessed 26 August 2026. Point 6.4 was replaced in 2009; the original 2006 text used different values and no longer applies. This page states the European minimum standards and is not medical advice; the assessment of fitness sits with the examining doctor and the competent authority.
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