A few days after Tesla announced that its Full Self-Driving (FSD) software would be approved in the Netherlands by February, the country’s national vehicle authority issued a statement contradicting the claim.
The Elon Musk-led company said on X over the weekend that “RDW has committed to granting Netherlands National approval in February 2026,” referring to the Dutch authority.
However, according to RWD, approval is not granted — instead, what the two entities have agreed on is that they will meet in February so Tesla can demonstrate if the system’s capabilities meet the requirements.
“We do not share details about ongoing manufacturer applications because this is market- and competition-sensitive information,” RWD said, adding that they are both aware of “what efforts need to be made to reach a decision by February.”
The safety regulator further noted that “whether the schedule will be met will become clear in the coming period,” as traffic safety remains the top priority for RWD.
Ineffective Pressure
Additionally, the Dutch authority asked Tesla drivers to stop contacting them regarding the topic, as “it unnecessarily consumes the time of our customer service and will not influence whether the schedule is met.”
Both Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk have repeatedly urged customers to contact safety regulators across Europe over the past few months.
The chief executive reaffirmed it in early November, during Tesla‘s Annual Shareholder Meeting.
“You can’t even get a super, even just normal supervised FSD is not allowed in Europe currently, which doesn’t make any sense,” the CEO stated.
He added that he has “had these crazy conversations with the regulators that seem like a Franz Kafka novel,” however, “they’re like, well, we have to have all these committee meetings.”
The company said it has modified FSD to achieve maximum regulatory compliance where logical and reasonable but will not compromise safety or customer usability.
FSD Expansion
Tesla is currently hiring Vehicle Operators in several locations across Europe, including Prague (the Czech Republic), Budapest (Hungary), and in the German cities of Prüm and Berlin.
Earlier this week, the company launched its FSD (Supervised) software in South Korea, bringing the total number of countries where it is available to seven, eight if including China.
Customers can currently access it in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand.
In China, the rollout has been partial, with Tesla hoping to get full approval of the software in the first quarter of 2026.
On Monday, Musk said that, despite Tesla’s offer to license its FSD software to other OEMs, they “don’t want it.”
