Tesla's FSD approved in the Netherlands – only in the Netherlands
As the first European country, the Netherlands is allowing Tesla's FSD on its roads. However, not based on EU-wide regulations.
(Image: Beach Media/Shutterstock.com)
The Dutch regulatory authority RDW (Rijksdienst voor het Wegverkeer, roughly: national road traffic service) has approved Tesla's technology for autonomous driving FSD (Supervised) for general traffic operation as of April 10, 2026. It is thus the first European country in which the technology can legally be used outside test drives. The supervised version of FSD corresponds to SAE Level 2. The driver must be able to take control of the vehicle at any time. The RDW expressly points out that reading a newspaper behind the wheel, for example, is not permitted.
This ends months of tug-of-war with the RDW, during which Tesla kept the authority on its toes with ever new announcements. Now, RDW itself and Tesla on the platform X – both companies belong to Elon Musk – report that the approval has been achieved. While Tesla previously spoke of 1.6 million test kilometers on European roads, the current announcement mentions “billions of kilometers,” which presumably means worldwide data. For example, in the USA, “Full Self Driving” (FSD) has been available since the end of 2020, currently as a subscription for 99 US dollars per month, among other things. The cost of the Dutch version of FSD is not yet known.
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Possible role model for the EU
The RDW cites Article 39 of the General Vehicle Approval Rules as the basis for its approval. According to this, member states of the European Union can, as an exception, approve technologies for which there are no harmonized regulations yet. The authority expressly points out that FSD Supervised is only approved in the Netherlands for now. A Tesla equipped with it there would therefore probably have to deactivate FSD when crossing the national border. However, the RDW also points out that it is happy to advise the EU and the EU Commission. In the USA, investigations by the traffic safety authority NHTSA into accidents involving Tesla's assistance systems are currently underway.
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