Self-driving cars - Here is the list of European countries testing Autonomous Vehicles

Self-driving cars - Here is the list of European countries testing autonomous vehicles - Portugal Business News

News Self-driving Cars Europe - Here is the list of European countries testing autonomous vehicles and those that have enacted laws for self-driving cars.

List of European countries testing autonomous vehicles and those that have enacted laws for self-driving cars:

1 - Portugal

Portugal enacted the law for self-driving cars on June 8, 2026 under Law no. 113/2026. This decree-law enters into force 30 days after its publication, that is in July 2026 when driverless cars will be seen on the roads of Portugal for the testing phase.

Portugal´s new law approves the legal regime for the licensing of tests of automatic driving systems. The decree states that vehicles will be able to interact directly with each other (V2V), with road infrastructure (V2I), and between other points of connection (V2X). This interaction corresponds to the domain of Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems that will allow users and road managers to share and use information that was not previously available and coordinate their actions.

While the latest generation of the BMW Driver Assistance System is being rolled out across Europe, they will be on Portuguese roads in the Summer of 2026.

2 - Spain

Spain enacted a framework for testing driverless vehicles in November 2015 under Legislative Royal Decree 6/2015 . Spain also published the Instruction VEH 2022/07 of the General Subdirectory of Management of Mobility and Technology under the Ministry of Interior. This is part of Spain´s Road Safety Strategy 2030 for "safe and connected vehicles" that was approved by Royal Decree 1428/2003.

According to Tesla, Spain is emerging as a pivotal testing ground thanks to its cutting-edge "Spanish Framework for Autonomous Vehicles" (ES-AV). The Spanish Directorate-General for Traffic (DGT) kicked off the ES-AV initiative for Spain´s Autonomous Vehicles in July 2025 with a unified standard for autonomous vehicle testing.

Tesla Spain is testing its driverless vehicles on Spanish public roads from November 27, 2025, to November 26, 2027. Tesla has already entered Level 3 of the ES-AV program, meaning that Tesla cars that are on Spanish roads are fully self-driving even though a human being must be available if needed, including in Madrid.

Uber announced in February 2026 that it will deploy autonomous vehicles in Madrid before the end of 2026. Users will be able to request a self-driving car from the Uber app, and there will be nobody holding the wheel.

Spain’s first commercial Robotaxi pilot will operate in the Region of Madrid, marking Uber´s first joint entry of Robotaxis into the European market, together with WeRide (a global leader in autonomous driving technology) and AVOMO (a Moove Cars Group company), with operations starting in late 2026, according to an announcement dated June 2, 2026.

The BMW Driver Assistance System is expected to be on Spanish roads in the Summer of 2026.

3 - Germany

Germany is a global leader in driverless vehicle testing since German laws permit fully driverless cars under SAE Level 4 autonomous driving on public roads, meaning that nobody is seated at the front-wheel. Germany´s Autonomous Driving Act 2021 and 2022 on Autonomous Vehicle law legalizes Level 4 autonomous driving nationwide. German law thus allows Level 4 vehicles on public roads without a driver being physically present, but only in pre-approved operating areas.

Mercedes-Benz will roll-out its self-driving cars in selected German cities from ​the end of 2026 before expanding nationwide from early 2027, according to chief technology officer ⁠Joerg Burzer. The Mercedes driverless car system, that was developed in partnership with U.S. chipmaker Nvidia, can navigate traffic lights, lane changes ⁠and ​heavy city traffic, with the driver's supervision.

BMW driverless cars are also being rolled out on German roads in 2026, using its proprietary urban automated driving system. BMW was the first car manufacturer in Germany to receive the international Driver Control Assistance Systems approval.

4 - Netherlands

The Netherlands has adopted a legislative proposal under the Road Traffic Act 1994 to experiment with "self-driving cars," where the driver is located remotely outside the vehicle, subject to obtaining a permit. The publication law entered into force on June 28, 2019. It is therefore possible to test self-driving cars with a remote driver in the Netherlands.

On May 5th, 2026, the Dutch vehicle authority RDW presented an update on their Article 39 FSD approval process to the EU's Technical Committee on Motor Vehicles (TCMV) and a formal vote is expected by December.

The Netherlands is part of the group of 18 EU Member States that signed a Joint Declaration of Intent on large-scale cross-border testbeds for autonomous vehicles together with Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism, Apostolos Tzitzikostas according to an EU report dated June 8, 2026.

Netherlands is the 1st European country to approve Full Self-Driving Supervised vehicles (FSD Supervised) under the EU type approval for Tesla on April 10, 2026. The EU-wide rollout of Tesla´s self-driving cars is planned for Q1 2027.

The approval is currently valid only in the Netherlands, but  Dutch vehicle authority RDW will submit the application for EU-wide permission to the European Commission, where all member states will vote. If approved by majority, the system may be used across all EU member states.

Tesla Europe and Dutch vehicle authority RDW have officially completed the final testing phase for Full Self-Driving (Supervised) in Europe and owners of Tesla driverless cars in the Netherlands have already driven 10 million km under FSD supervision as at May 4th, 2026.

The BMW Driver Assistance System is already being rolled out in the Netherlands.

5 - France

France enacted Decree N° 2020-1495 dated December 2, 2020, that revises Decree n° 2018-211 dated March 28 2018 for trials of autonomous vehicles on French roads. France also published the Geneva amendment under Decree n° 2022-1034 dated July 21, 2022 on autonomous vehicles.

France is part of the group of 18 EU Member States that signed a Joint Declaration of Intent on large-scale cross-border testbeds for autonomous vehicles according to an EU report dated June 8, 2026.

BMW driverless cars are being rolled-out in France, using its own urban automated driving system.

WeRide, a global leader in the autonomous driving industry, as well as the first publicly traded Robotaxi company, received an autonomous driving permit for the French market.

Tesla driverless cars are under review in France after Full Self-Driving demonstration videos were released as at May 2025.

6 - Lithuania

Lithuania was among the first countries in Europe to establish a legal framework for testing autonomous vehicles on public roads since 2018.

Lithuania is part of the group of 18 EU Member States that signed a Joint Declaration of Intent on large-scale cross-border testbeds for autonomous vehicles according to an EU report dated June 8, 2026.

Lithuania is the 2nd European country to approve Full Self-Driving Supervised vehicles (FSD Supervised) for Tesla on May 20, 2026.

In May 2026, the Lithuanian Transport Safety Administration recognized a temporary EU type-approval for Tesla’s FSD (Full Self-Driving Supervised) system, issued by the Dutch vehicle oversight authority, that is not a fully driverless car system. This means that no independent Lithuanian test is required.

7 - Estonia

Full Self-Driving Supervised vehicles (FSD Supervised) have been approved in Estonia under the EU type approval that is not a fully driverless car system, and that  means that no independent test is required at country-level.

Estonia is part of the group of 18 EU Member States that signed a Joint Declaration of Intent on large-scale cross-border testbeds for autonomous vehicles according to an EU report dated June 8, 2026.

Estonia is the 3rd European country to approve Full Self-Driving Supervised vehicles (FSD Supervised) for Tesla on May 29, 2026.

The Estonian Transport Administration has granted the Dutch type approval for Tesla's driver assistance system that recognizes the type approval for the Tesla FSD system issued by the Dutch road transport authority, RDW. This means that Tesla can start rolling out Full Self-Driving Supervised vehicles in Estonia.

8 - Denmark

The Danish Road Traffic Act no. 118 of 12/01/2026 includes the Revision of pilot schemes for self-driving motor vehicles and self-driving units as well as mandatory digital self-service when reporting safety advisors. Denmark fast-tracks driverless testing when another EU member state has already certified the driverless vehicle software under UN regulations.

Denmark is the 4th country in Europe to approve Full Self-Driving Supervised vehicles (FSD Supervised) on June 9th, 2026 for Tesla.

Tesla is therefore preparing to rollout its driverless vehicles in Denmark.

9 - Belgium

Belgium does not require a specific legislation to obtain a testing permit for driverless cars. Belgium became one of the first European countries to allow fully autonomous vehicles to be tested on the public highway without a driver on May 1, 2018. The exemption from the Traffic Code introduced by Royal Decree on 18/03/2018 grants the possibility for the testing of automated vehicles to be exempt from traffic rules, including the obligation for each vehicle to have a human driver.

Belgium is part of the group of 18 EU Member States that signed a Joint Declaration of Intent on large-scale cross-border testbeds for autonomous vehicles according to an EU report dated June 8, 2026.

Belgium is the 5th country in Europe to approve Full Self-Driving Supervised vehicles (FSD Supervised) on June 10th, 2026 for Tesla.

BMW driverless cars are also being rolled-out in Belgium, using its own urban automated driving system.

10 - Italy

Italy enacted the Smart Road Decree for automated driving on February 28, 2018 under which Italy authorizes the testing of autonomous vehicles on Italian roads as well as the gradual implementation of Smart Roads in the Italian Road Network that is considered to be the best environment for automated driving.

The first Italian test on a self-driving vehicle was carried out on Italy´s first Smart Road, the Naples Ring Road (Tangenziale di Napoli), in June 2026 by changing the car´s speed in real time. Data collected from the Naples Smart Road flows into the Movyon C-ITS central platform, which integrates information coming from the infrastructure with other external sources and uses it to provide continuous monitoring of traffic conditions.

BMW automated driving cars are also being rolled-out in Italy.

11 - United Kingdom

The UK Automated Vehicles Act 2024 sets out the provisions for automated vehicles and widespread commercial use of fully unsupervised self-driving vehicles is targeted for full implementation in late 2027.

The BMW Driver Assistance System will be on UK roads in the Summer of 2026.

Uber is currently collaborating with British company Wayve to test driverless taxis in London.

Uber will launch self-driving cars in Europe after the test phase in London that is planned for Summer 2026.

12 - Ireland

Ireland approved the legislation to test Autonomous Vehicles on public roads on December 6th, 2019. In March 2026, a statutory instrument was signed by the Irish Government to allow Level 2 connected and autonomous vehicles to operate on Irish roads, that only allows for partial driving automation. However, the Irish Department of Transport is in the process of developing a national strategy in relation to connected and self-driving vehicles to be published shortly after the summer break.

The BMW Driver Assistance System will be on Irish roads after the Summer of 2026.

13 - Austria

In Austria, operations for automated driving in model regions will start in 2028, following a tender that will begin in autumn 2026.

BMW driverless cars are planned to be tested in Austria, using the car brand´s own urban automated driving system.