RDW grants European type approval for Tesla FSD (Supervised)

The Dutch vehicle authority RDW has granted Tesla a European type approval for FSD (Supervised) with provisional validity in the Netherlands. It is the first official authorisation of its kind in the European Union: from now on the system may legally be used on public roads in the Netherlands.

RDW stresses that this is an advanced driver-assistance system, not an autonomous vehicle. The approval was issued under UN Regulation No. 171, which governs Driver Control Assistance Systems (DCAS) and corresponds to Level 2 automation. The driver remains responsible for the vehicle and must be ready to intervene immediately at any time. Although keeping hands on the wheel at all times is not required, the car monitors driver attention through sensors that check eye position and readiness to take over; repeated inattentiveness triggers warnings and can temporarily disable the system.

The approval followed more than a year and a half of testing on a closed track and on public roads. RDW specifically notes that the European version of FSD (Supervised) differs from the US version: it runs on different software and must meet stricter EU requirements, so the two are not directly comparable.

The approval is provisional and currently applies only to the Netherlands. Extending it to other EU countries requires additional steps: other member states may recognise the approval nationally, but this does not happen automatically. Full EU-wide harmonisation would require review by the European Commission and a vote among member states. The decision therefore opens FSD (Supervised) to the roads of one EU country and sets a precedent, but does not guarantee immediate availability across the rest of Europe.