Group of Czech MPs want tighter norms for issuing taxi drivers licenses

A group of MPs, from both the government and opposition parties, want to tighten the conditions for obtaining a taxi driver's license in Czechia. According to the proposal, only holders of a driving license issued in the Czech Republic or another EU member state would be able to obtain it. The main aim of their proposal is to improve road safety. They argue that more and more foreigners from non-EU countries are applying for jobs as taxi drivers, for whom driving in the country is sometimes a challenge. According to statistics close to half of the 15, 000 taxi driver licenses issued in recent years were issued to drivers from non-EU member states –over six thousand to Ukrainian nationals, over eleven hundred licenses to citizens of Uzbekistan and one hundred licenses to citizens of Nigeria, among others.