Royal Decree 628/2014, of July 18, regulating the peculiarities of the authorization regime for driving vehicles belonging to the Armed Forces and the Civil Guard.
Published in: Official State Gazette (BOE) number 186, of August 1, 2014, pages 61528 to 61541 (14 pages).
Section: I. General provisions
Department: Ministry of the Presidency
Reference: BOE-A-2014-8276
Link to the document
The first final provision of the consolidated text of the Law on Traffic, Motor Vehicle Circulation, and Road Safety, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 339/1990, of March 2, authorizes the Government to regulate, upon proposal from the Ministers of Defense and the Interior, and, where appropriate, other competent Ministers, the peculiarities of the authorization and circulation regime of vehicles belonging to the Armed Forces.
In compliance with this mandate, the current Royal Decree 1257/1999, of July 16, which regulates driving permits for vehicles of the Armed Forces and the Civil Guard, was approved, specifying these peculiarities and meeting all requirements imposed by the special circumstances in these areas, always prioritizing road safety.
There have been several regulatory changes in traffic matters since then, notably, the modification of the consolidated text of the Law on Traffic, Motor Vehicle Circulation, and Road Safety by Law 17/2005, of July 19, which introduced the points-based driving license system.
Furthermore, the approval of the new General Driver Regulation by Royal Decree 818/2009, of May 8, brought about a substantial reform regarding driving license classes, replacing the moped driving license with the AM driving license, introducing the new A2 driving license, and including for the first time the BTP driving license.
In its Title III dedicated to driving permits issued by the Armed Forces and by the Directorate General of the Civil Guard, the exchange of both the driving permit and the special authorizations to drive vehicles transporting dangerous goods issued by schools or organizations of the Armed Forces or the Directorate General of the Civil Guard is regulated in detail, with the latter exchange being recognized for the first time in said Regulation.
These changes directly impact the content of Royal Decree 1257/1999, of July 16, which is why it has been deemed necessary to issue this royal decree in order to update, complete, and adapt its content to these modifications.
This royal decree will only regulate those peculiar and specific aspects of the authorization regime for driving vehicles belonging to the Armed Forces and the Civil Guard which, due to their special characteristics, must be regulated differently from how they are regulated in current traffic regulations, without prejudice to the fact that, in all other respects, the aforementioned regulations shall apply to them.
The following aspects are noteworthy from its content:
Driving permits as well as special authorizations will be issued by schools or organizations of the Armed Forces and the Directorate General of the Civil Guard when necessary due to the position’s destination or service needs.
This is one of the most relevant characteristics of the authorizations to drive vehicles of the Armed Forces and the Civil Guard, whose acquisition does not respond to personal or particular interests, as they are conceived as another element in the training of their members to provide a service, justifying the issuance of these types of permits, all for the benefit of the proper functioning and needs of the Army or Corps to which they belong.
It is envisaged that both the Drivers and Offenders Register of the Directorate General of Traffic, as well as the respective Registers of the Armed Forces and the Civil Guard, will reciprocally provide, electronically, by interconnecting their respective databases, the necessary data to apply the provisions of this royal decree.
The current cardboard format of the driving permits for vehicles of the Armed Forces and the Civil Guard is replaced by the plastic card format, as was already done in 2004 with respect to civilian driving permits and more recently with the driving permits of the National Police Corps, offering greater guarantees against counterfeiting and being less prone to deterioration from use.
Likewise, the current cardboard format of the special authorizations to drive vehicles of the Armed Forces and the Civil Guard transporting dangerous goods is also replaced by a harmonized model in plastic card format with enhanced security measures than the current one, in line with the Amendments proposed by Portugal to Annexes A and B of the European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR), of which Spain is a contracting party, which since January 1, 2013, requires the issuance of special authorizations to drive vehicles transporting dangerous goods, in the civilian sphere, in that format.
This royal decree has been informed by the Spanish Data Protection Agency, in accordance with the provisions of paragraph b) of article 5 of the Statute of said Agency, approved by Royal Decree 428/1993, of March 26.
In accordance with this, upon proposal from the Ministers of the Interior and Defense, with the prior approval of the Minister of Finance and Public Administrations, in agreement with the State Council, and after deliberation by the Council of Ministers at its meeting on July 18, 2014,