Vehicle registration plates of the European Union

This article is about registration plates of member states of the European Union, which share a common format. For a general overview of registration plates of Europe as a whole, see Vehicle registration plates of Europe.

The stars from the European Flag are featured in a blue band on most national plates.

Vehicle registration plates of the European Union are the mandatory number plates used to display the registration mark of a vehicle in the respective Member States. Most motor vehicles which are used on public roads are required by law to display them.

The common EU format of having a blue section on the left with EU stars and the country code was introduced by Council Regulation (EC) No 2411/98 of 3 November 1998 and entered into force on the November 11, 1998. It was based on a model registration plate which several member states had introduced, Ireland (1991),¹ Portugal (1992),^{citation needed} and Germany (1994).²

The EU format is optional in Finland, Sweden, Cyprus³ and the United Kingdom. Denmark implemented the EU format on a voluntary basis in 2009.⁴

Within the United Kingdom, motorists with vehicles registered in Great Britain may use number plates featuring the national flag of England, Scotland and Wales, or alternatively the Union Flag, together with the code name "ENG" for England, "SCO" for Scotland, "Wales" or "CYM" for Wales, "GB" for Great Britain or "UK" for United Kingdom respectively. Although not officially recognised outside the UK, they are authorised by the nation's Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency.⁵ However, motorists with vehicles registered in Northern Ireland fall within the jurisdiction of the Driver & Vehicle Agency, which does not permit a similar scheme to operate in Northern Ireland; only the optional EU format, (featuring in this case the letters GB), being permitted.⁶

List

Member state	Abbr.	Example
Austria	A
Belgium	B
Bulgaria	BG
Cyprus	CY
Czech Republic	CZ
Denmark	DK
Estonia	EST
Finland	FIN
France	F
Germany	D
Gibraltar	GBZ
Greece	GR
Hungary	H
Ireland	IRL
Italy	I
Latvia	LV
Lithuania	LT
Luxembourg	L
Malta	M
Netherlands	NL
Poland	PL
Portugal	P
Romania	RO
Slovakia	SK
Slovenia	SLO
Spain	E
Sweden	S
United Kingdom	GB

Motorcycle plates

These are used for motorcycles and vehicles where mounting space is an issue, such as taxis which display their licence plate beside the registration plate, and vehicles imported from countries where the mounting space was not originally designed to take European-sized plates (e.g. USA).