(Bloomberg/Charlotte Hughes-Morgan and Craig Trudell) — Tesla Inc. is at odds with the regulator it’s been working with to try to get its driver-assistance system approved for Europe, with the Dutch organization denying information the carmaker posted on Elon Musk’s social media network.
The conflict has to do with the driver-assist system Tesla markets as Full Self-Driving, or FSD, which European authorities have yet to sign off on years after the company made it available to US consumers. The carmaker posted Sunday on X that its “main path” to getting FSD green-lit for Europe is through RDW, the organization that handles the approval and registration of vehicles in the Netherlands.
While Tesla said in its post that RDW “has committed to granting Netherlands National approval in February 2026,” the authority denied this in a statement posted to its website Monday. The regulator said that it has merely drawn up a schedule with Tesla in which the company will be able to demonstrate FSD in February, and hasn’t committed to approving it.
“We do not share details about ongoing applications from manufacturers, as this concerns commercially sensitive information,” the authority said. “Both RDW and Tesla are aware of the efforts needed to reach a decision on this matter in February. Whether this timeline will be met is yet to be determined in the coming period.”
RDW also took issue with Tesla sharing a link to the regulator’s contact page and encouraging its X followers to thank the authority for the supposed approval.
“We thank everyone who has already done so, but would like to urge people not to contact us about this matter,” the regulator said. “It takes up unnecessary time for our customer service. Furthermore, this will have no impact whatsoever on whether or not the schedule will be met. Road safety remains the RDW’s top priority: approval is only possible once the safety of the system has been convincingly demonstrated.”
Musk has repeatedly voiced frustration with the regulatory approval process for FSD in Europe, including during the company’s annual shareholder meeting earlier this month. The company has since updated the website where it reports FSD safety data that experts have questioned due to flawed comparisons and other methodological issues.
“Pressure from our customers in Europe to push the regulators to approve would be appreciated,” Musk said during the annual meeting.
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