Applications have opened for a government-backed programme under which drivers aged up to 30 can receive €25,000 in exchange for surrendering their private driving licence for five years. The initiative, run by Transport Malta, is aimed at reducing the number of cars on Malta’s congested roads.
Under the scheme, successful applicants receive €5,000 per year, cannot drive any vehicle in Malta or abroad during the five-year period, and must reapply for a licence at the end of the suspension period, including mandatory driving lessons.
The programme has a total budget of €25 million, funding up to 1,000 applicants, and is available on a first-come, first-served basis until the end of June.
A different policy direction
The contrast is all the more striking given that, at EU level, policymakers have spent years debating how to bring younger people into the truck-driving profession, rather than discouraging driving altogether. Until late 2025, EU institutions were considering allowing 17-year-olds to train as truck drivers under supervision, as part of a broader effort to address chronic driver shortages across the bloc.
That proposal was ultimately dropped, with the European Parliament deciding to keep the minimum age for category C licences at 18, citing road safety concerns. However, the debate itself underlined the scale of the recruitment challenge facing road haulage — and the pressure on policymakers to expand, rather than shrink, the future pool of professional drivers.
The Maltese measure focuses strictly on private car use, not professional or freight transport. However, it highlights a striking contrast with developments elsewhere in Europe, where driver shortages remain a pressing issue for road haulage, and governments and industry bodies are subsidising licence training and recruitment programmes to secure future capacity.
In Malta itself, the logistics sector has previously warned about difficulties in recruiting qualified HGV drivers, reflecting a wider European trend affecting supply chains and transport reliability.
Against this background, the licence-surrender scheme raises questions about long-term workforce dynamics, particularly the size of the future pool of young people eligible to enter professional driving.
