Tesla is pursuing regulatory approval to launch its (supervised) Full Self-Driving system in Europe, with the Elon Musk-led company saying the Netherlands committed to granting national approval in February 2026.
Over the last few months, Tesla has shared demo videos of its advanced assisted driving software operating in 15 countries, including Germany, Spain, Italy, and the Netherlands.
On Saturday, Tesla wrote on X that it has conducted demonstrations of the FSD system for regulators in “almost every EU country” over the past 12 months.
In total, the company claims it has driven over one million kilometers during internal testing across 17 European countries.
“Currently, RDW has committed to granting Netherlands National approval in February 2026,” the post stated, referring to the Dutch vehicle authority.
“Upon NL National approval, other EU countries can immediately recognize the exemption and also allow rollout within their country,” the company added. “Then we will bring it to a TCMV vote for official EU-wide approval.”
Later in the post, the company urged its shareholders and fans to contact RDW to “express your excitement & thank them for making this happen as soon as possible.”
Earlier this week, Tesla‘s Senior Staff Software Engineer Yun-Ta Tsai had already urged on X the FSD approval, by writing: “Please save us from soul crushing bureaucracy hell.”
Tesla‘s regulatory strategy centers on partnering with the Dutch approval authority RDW to obtain exemptions for the feature, which requires proving compliance with existing UN Regulation 171 covering Driver Control Assistance Systems.
Additionally, and according to Tesla, the company must also file exemptions under EU Article 39 for behaviors not yet covered by regulation, including Level 2 autonomous systems operating off-highway and system-initiated lane changes with hands-off-wheel capability.
“Some of these regulations are outdated and rules-based, which makes FSD illegal in its current form,” the post stated. “Changing FSD to be compliant with these rules would make it unsafe and unusable in many cases.”
The company said it has modified FSD to achieve maximum regulatory compliance where logical and reasonable but will not compromise safety or customer usability.
During Tesla‘s late October earnings call, management said the company was working with regulators in China and EMEA — Europe, Middle East and Africa — to obtain approvals for FSD deployment in those regions.
Earlier this month, Tesla shared detailed safety evidence for FSD that is now public in the company’s latest Safety Report.
The update on the European rollout comes a day after Tesla started rolling out the FSD V14.2 in the US.
