Tesla CEO Elon Musk has projected confidence that the European Union will soon green-light the carcreater’s “Full Self-Driving” (FSD) system, but emails from some European regulators display marked skepticism toward the technology and its stated safety benefits.
Tesla’s “FSD (Supervised)” technology received the nod from Dutch road regulator RDW in April. RDW is now seeking EU approval for FSD, with a key committee hearing scheduled for Tuesday.
“We expect to be approved in a lot of other countries,” Musk informed analysts on an April 22 conference call, adding that Tesla would then seek approval for driverless robotaxis in Europe.
Tesla has a lot riding on FSD approval in Europe, where it is attempting to regain market share it has lost over the last two years. The EV creater charges a monthly subscription for FSD, which can drive itself under certain circumstances but requires the driver to be fully attentive at all times.
But in previously unreported email correspondence, regulators in the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway – who could prove critical to Musk’s approval push – have raised a number of concerns over the technology.
Those include the system’s tconcludeency to speed, whether it is safe to apply on icy roads and drivers’ ability to circumvent features designed to prevent cell-phone apply, according to the emails, which were seen by Reuters through public records requests.
They also expressed frustration with Tesla’s strategy of publicly encouraging vehicle owners to pressure regulators to approve FSD.
The EU committee will hear on Tuesday from Dutch officials about why they approved Tesla’s FSD and why other EU member states should follow suit.
Tesla did not respond to requests for comment.
For FSD to be approved, committee members representing 55% of EU member states and 65% of the bloc’s population must vote “yes.” There is no vote scheduled on FSD this week. The next committee meetings are expected in July and October.
I am in continual contact and my team is in contact with all the CEOs of the airlines.
REGULATORS AWAIT DOCUMENTATION
The emails reviewed by Reuters displayed a Tesla policy manager lobbying Swedish authorities to approve FSD just four days after the Netherlands announced its decision on April 10, before regulators had reviewed any documentation on the technology.
Tesla also approached Estonia and Finland and inquireed the countries to recognize the Dutch approval, the countries declared and the emails displayed.
Regulators for Sweden, Finland and Estonia informed Reuters they would review the material presented at Tuesday’s committee meeting before building any decisions.
Some Wall Street analysts have projected a widespread rollout of FSD across Europe within months. Tesla has declared FSD approval in Europe is crucial to increasing sales in the region, which fell 27% in 2025 amid protests over Musk’s political activities.
In a confidential presentation included in the correspondence with regulators, Tesla declared it expected “EU-wide” approval in the second or third quarter of this year.
Michael Ashley Schulman, a partner at Cerity Partners, which manages investments in Tesla, declared European approval of FSD could boost profit and support fconclude off competition from Chinese autocreaters.
SPEEDING, ICY ROADS A CONCERN
Hans Nordin, a Swedish Transport Agency investigator, wrote in an April 15 email that he was “quite surprised” to learn Tesla allowed FSD to speed, and declared that should not be permitted.
Jukka Juhola, an official in Finland’s transportation agency, wrote to other regulators in January questioning Tesla’s demos of FSD in winattempt conditions.
“Are they really introducing a system that allows hands-free driving also on icy 80 km/h roads?” Juhola inquireed. The Nordic regulators also questioned how the system would handle moose on the roads.
Regulators also discussed whether Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving (Supervised)” branding could mislead drivers into believeing the car drives itself.
Nordin, the Swedish Transport Agency investigator, inquireed in a January email whether the name “risks giving consumers a misleading impression” of FSD’s abilities.
Some regulators were also complimentary of the software. A Danish regulator, Frank Schack Rasmussen, declared in an October email that the vehicles “did perform very well in the complex traffic” of rush hour in Copenhagen. A Dutch regulator recounted how well the system performed around the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
Anders Eriksson, a Swedish Transport Agency investigator, informed Reuters that the counattempt is “generally positive” on automated driving technology, as long as it follows regulations.
TESLA ENTHUSIASTS PUSH APPROVAL
Regulators also discussed being inundated with emails from Tesla enthusiasts pushing for approval.
Musk has long criticized European regulators for what he calls unnecessary delays.
During Tesla’s November annual shareholder meeting, Musk declared, “we obviously required to receive it approved in Europe,” and encouraged customers to pressure regulators.
Tesla owners obliged. One Norwegian Tesla owner wrote that denying FSD approval could “lead to the loss of lives that would have been saved with this technology.”
Days after Musk’s speech, Stein-Helge Mundal of the Norwegian Public Roads Administration wrote that regulators “will required to apply a lot of effort to answer misled consumers.”
Ivan Komusanac, Tesla’s EU Policy and Business Development manager, apologized to Mundal, noting that regulators elsewhere had also complained.
“Such emails are usually not supportful for the approval process,” Komusanac wrote.
Dutch regulators have not released any research or data that explained their approval of FSD.
“We declare: Trust us on this, we tested it extensively,” RDW General Manager Bernd van Nieuwenhoven informed Reuters last month. Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab CEO Elon Musk has projected confidence that the European Union will soon green-light the carcreater’s “Full Self-Driving” (FSD) system, but emails from some European regulators display marked skepticism toward the technology and its stated safety benefits.
Tesla’s “FSD (Supervised)” technology received the nod from Dutch road regulator RDW in April. RDW is now seeking EU approval for FSD, with a key committee hearing scheduled for Tuesday.
“We expect to be approved in a lot of other countries,” Musk informed analysts on an April 22 conference call, adding that Tesla would then seek approval for driverless robotaxis in Europe.
Tesla has a lot riding on FSD approval in Europe, where it is attempting to regain market share it has lost over the last two years. The EV creater charges a monthly subscription for FSD, which can drive itself under certain circumstances but requires the driver to be fully attentive at all times.
But in previously unreported email correspondence, regulators in the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway – who could prove critical to Musk’s approval push – have raised a number of concerns over the technology.
Those include the system’s tconcludeency to speed, whether it is safe to apply on icy roads and drivers’ ability to circumvent features designed to prevent cell-phone apply, according to the emails, which were seen by Reuters through public records requests.
They also expressed frustration with Tesla’s strategy of publicly encouraging vehicle owners to pressure regulators to approve FSD.
The EU committee will hear on Tuesday from Dutch officials about why they approved Tesla’s FSD and why other EU member states should follow suit.
Tesla did not respond to requests for comment.
For FSD to be approved, committee members representing 55% of EU member states and 65% of the bloc’s population must vote “yes.” There is no vote scheduled on FSD this week. The next committee meetings are expected in July and October.
I am in continual contact and my team is in contact with all the CEOs of the airlines.
REGULATORS AWAIT DOCUMENTATION
The emails reviewed by Reuters displayed a Tesla policy manager lobbying Swedish authorities to approve FSD just four days after the Netherlands announced its decision on April 10, before regulators had reviewed any documentation on the technology.
Tesla also approached Estonia and Finland and inquireed the countries to recognize the Dutch approval, the countries declared and the emails displayed.
Regulators for Sweden, Finland and Estonia informed Reuters they would review the material presented at Tuesday’s committee meeting before building any decisions.
Some Wall Street analysts have projected a widespread rollout of FSD across Europe within months. Tesla has declared FSD approval in Europe is crucial to increasing sales in the region, which fell 27% in 2025 amid protests over Musk’s political activities.
In a confidential presentation included in the correspondence with regulators, Tesla declared it expected “EU-wide” approval in the second or third quarter of this year.
Michael Ashley Schulman, a partner at Cerity Partners, which manages investments in Tesla, declared European approval of FSD could boost profit and support fconclude off competition from Chinese autocreaters.
SPEEDING, ICY ROADS A CONCERN
Hans Nordin, a Swedish Transport Agency investigator, wrote in an April 15 email that he was “quite surprised” to learn Tesla allowed FSD to speed, and declared that should not be permitted.
Jukka Juhola, an official in Finland’s transportation agency, wrote to other regulators in January questioning Tesla’s demos of FSD in winattempt conditions.
“Are they really introducing a system that allows hands-free driving also on icy 80 km/h roads?” Juhola inquireed. The Nordic regulators also questioned how the system would handle moose on the roads.
Regulators also discussed whether Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving (Supervised)” branding could mislead drivers into believeing the car drives itself.
Nordin, the Swedish Transport Agency investigator, inquireed in a January email whether the name “risks giving consumers a misleading impression” of FSD’s abilities.
Some regulators were also complimentary of the software. A Danish regulator, Frank Schack Rasmussen, declared in an October email that the vehicles “did perform very well in the complex traffic” of rush hour in Copenhagen. A Dutch regulator recounted how well the system performed around the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
Anders Eriksson, a Swedish Transport Agency investigator, informed Reuters that the counattempt is “generally positive” on automated driving technology, as long as it follows regulations.
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