Applying for a driver attestation as a holder of a Community licence for the carriage of goods by road

If the transport operator has a goods transport licence, which is a Community licence, the company must apply for a driver attestation for their driver, if the driver used by the company is a non-EU national. Driver attestations are not needed and cannot be issued for drivers who are nationals of an EU Member State or have been a resident of a Member State for a long time and been subsequently issued a P-EU residence permit.

One of the preconditions for the issuing of a driver attestation is that the holder of the Community licence demonstrates that the driver is subject to the conditions of employment and of vocational training of drivers valid in the Member State in question. The application for a driver attestation should in most cases be appended with the following documents pertaining to the driver:

• a copy of a valid passport.
• a copy of a valid driving licence
• a document confirming that the person has a valid professional qualification of lorry drivers issued in an EU Member State (a copy of a separate driver qualification card if the professional qualification is not marked on the driving licence)
• a document confirming that the person has the right to work in Finland (a copy of a residence permit for an employed person, or if the person does not have the aforementioned permit, a document confirming why they do not need one)
• a copy of the person’s employment contract or other written document on the conditions of their employment and, if necessary, a copy of a temporary work agency contract.

The driver attestation is issued to the holder of a Community licence for the carriage of goods by road, who puts it at the disposal of the driver designated therein when that driver carries out transports for the holder of the Community licence. The Community licence holder must retain a certified true copy of the driver attestation. The driver attestation cannot be transferred to another person.

A driver attestation is issued for a maximum duration of five years. The period of validity of the driver attestation is affected by factors such as the period of validity of the Community licence holder’s Community licence, the potential fixed-term nature of the driver’s employment and the periods of validity of the driver’s professional qualification and residence permit.

The driver attestation shall be presented at the request of any authorised inspecting officer. Upon the end of the driver’s employment, the Community licence holder must immediately return the driver attestation to the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency (Traficom), which will subsequently withdraw the attestation.

Traficom will also withdraw a driver attestation if the Community licence holder no longer meets the requirements provided in Article 5(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1072/2009 on common rules for access to the international road haulage market or if the Community licence holder has provided incorrect information in the application for a driver attestation.

Apply for a driver attestation as a holder of a Community licence for the carriage of goods by road (External link)