Moderate: 15 to 29 events per hour. Severe: 30 or more. Both linked to excessive daytime sleepiness.
If suspected: further medical advice is required before a licence is issued or renewed.
With treatment: a licence may still be issued, provided it's demonstrably under control and backed by an authorised medical opinion.
Group 2 review: at most every year. For group 1 it's every three years.
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.
Since when this has been regulated
Obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome wasn't in the original 2006 driving licence directive. It was added by an amending directive in 2014, which Member States had to apply from 31 December 2015.
The reason is stated in the recitals of that amending directive:
Since the adoption of Directive 2006/126/EC, scientific knowledge on medical conditions which affect fitness to drive has progressed, particularly as regards the estimation of both the associated risks for road safety and the effectiveness of treatment in averting the said risks. Numerous studies and researches have recently become available which confirm that the obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome is one of the highest risk factors for motor vehicle accidents. Therefore this condition should no longer be ignored in the context of the Union driving licence legislation.
Commission Directive 2014/85/EU, recital 2. Accessed 26 August 2026.
What moderate and severe mean in the rules
In the following paragraphs, a moderate obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome corresponds to a number of apnoeas and hypopnoeas per hour (Apnoea-Hypopnoea Index) between 15 and 29 and a severe obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome corresponds to an Apnoea-Hypopnoea Index of 30 or more, both associated with excessive daytime sleepiness.
Directive 2006/126/EC, Annex III, point 11.2, as added by Commission Directive 2014/85/EU.
Notice the second half of that sentence. Both categories are, in the text, linked to excessive daytime sleepiness. The index doesn't stand apart from that feature.
What that index means in an individual case, and whether it applies, is for the doctor to determine. Not a questionnaire, not an app.
What has to happen if it's suspected
Applicants or drivers in whom a moderate or severe obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome is suspected shall be referred for further authorised medical advice before a driving licence is issued or renewed. They may be advised not to drive until confirmation of the diagnosis.
Directive 2006/126/EC, Annex III, point 11.3.
It says shall be referred for further authorised medical advice. That's an obligation resting on the applicant or driver themselves, and it applies before issue or renewal.
The second sentence is conditional: they may be advised not to drive until the diagnosis is confirmed. So it isn't an automatic driving ban, but advice that can be given.
A licence can be issued with treatment
Driving licences may be issued to applicants or drivers with moderate or severe obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome who show adequate control of their condition and compliance with appropriate treatment and improvement of sleepiness, if any, confirmed by authorised medical opinion.
Directive 2006/126/EC, Annex III, point 11.4.
This is the provision people miss most. The diagnosis on its own doesn't rule out a licence. The text names three things together: the condition adequately under control, appropriate treatment being followed, and a resulting improvement in sleepiness. And that has to be backed by an authorised medical opinion.
What counts as adequate in your case is for the doctor and the competent authority.
Review: every year for group 2
Applicants or drivers with moderate or severe obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome under treatment shall be subject to a periodic medical review, at intervals not exceeding three years for drivers of group 1 and one year for drivers of group 2, with a view to establish the level of compliance with the treatment, the need for continuing the treatment and continued good vigilance.
Directive 2006/126/EC, Annex III, point 11.5.
For you as a driver with C or CE, that's at most once a year, against three years for an ordinary licence. That threefold difference is the practical consequence of sitting in group 2.
The purpose of that review is stated too: checking how far the treatment is being followed, whether it needs to continue, and whether continued vigilance is warranted.
And your country may set the bar higher
As everywhere in this annex, Member States may set stricter standards than the European minimums. What's above is the 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.
Also read
Sources
- Directive 2006/126/EC on driving licences, Annex III, points 11.2 to 11.5, as added by Commission Directive 2014/85/EU of 1 July 2014. EUR-Lex
- Directive 2014/85/EU, recital 2, for the reason for its inclusion.
Legal text quoted verbatim from the official English versions on EUR-Lex, accessed 26 August 2026. These points weren't in the original 2006 directive and have applied since 31 December 2015. 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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Drivers report what they see themselves. Parking full, traffic, hazard, roadworks. Open the app and stop driving alone.