Tesla FSD reaches the European Parliament: MEP Oetjen presses the Commission on timing and urges Germany to adopt the RDW approval
MEP Jan-Christoph Oetjen, transport committee coordinator, has sent the Commission a written question on the Article 39 procedure for FSD (Supervised). He says it is hard to explain why Grünheide-built cars have the system in the Netherlands but not in Germany.
The FSD (Supervised) file, which Tesla now calls Assisted Driving in Europe, has reached the European Parliament. German MEP Jan-Christoph Oetjen (FDP, Renew Europe), coordinator on the transport committee (TRAN), has sent the European Commission a written question on the status and timeline of the Article 39 procedure. He did so at a citizen's request, and his reply was posted on October 15 by the account "FSDWatcherDE".
What Oetjen says
In his reply to "FSDWatcherDE", Oetjen notes that the Commission's last answer on the topic predates the provisional approval granted by the Dutch regulator RDW, so it is out of date. He adds that the TCMV technical committee again failed to vote on the Dutch request on October 6, which shows the EU process is moving "far too slowly".
That is why, he argues, the route in Article 39(5) matters: each member state can adopt the RDW's provisional approval for its own territory. According to the reports he cites, seven member states have already done so.
A message for Berlin
Oetjen would "expressly welcome" Germany joining them. "It is indeed hard to explain that vehicles built in Grünheide may use a system in the Netherlands but not in Germany," he writes. He welcomes the German transport ministry backing EU-wide approval, but says it should now adopt the RDW approval in Germany until the EU decides.
In the longer run, he wants a harmonised EU approval process with clear deadlines and manufacturer-neutral criteria, so Europe does not fall further behind the US and China.
The question itself is not yet listed on the European Parliament website, where written questions usually appear with a delay. The Commission normally has six weeks to reply.
What about Romania?
Romania has not adopted the Dutch approval. We cover what the national approval authority RAR could do, and the legal hurdles, in our FSD (Supervised) in Europe and Romania guide.
