How Tesla Is Pressuring European Regulators to Approve FSD

A new investigation by Reuters reveals that Tesla has been actively pressuring European authorities to approve its Full Self-Driving (Supervised) system, a campaign that involved submitting safety data lacking independent review and mobilizing fans to contact regulators directly.

What Happened

According to the investigation, Tesla presented flawed safety data to European regulators, including internal emails exchanged with the Dutch regulator RDW. Seven independent traffic-safety researchers interviewed by Reuters identified significant flaws in the reports Tesla submitted. Specifically, Tesla’s "Evidence Dashboard" from April failed to make a meaningful case for FSD’s safety compared to human drivers, relying instead on "behavioral surrogates" such as horn usage and sudden acceleration rather than comprehensive crash data. The researchers noted that these metrics are poor proxies for actual crash risk and none believed the study demonstrated that FSD prevents fatal crashes.

The investigation also found that Tesla repeatedly pushed the RDW to reduce the scope or intensity of its evaluation, with one RDW staffer offering to discuss ways to "adjust or reduce" the required scrutiny after Tesla complained about the cost and extent of the review. Additionally, Tesla used X to rally fans, leading to dozens of emails sent to officials in Sweden and Norway claiming that delays in rolling out FSD would result in deaths.

Why It Matters

For Tesla, expanding FSD into Europe represents a significant opportunity to unlock subscription revenue in a major new market, as CEO Elon Musk has bet the company's future on autonomy and AI. However, the pressure campaign raises questions about the independence of regulatory assessments. If regulators are negotiating the rigor of their own evaluations with the manufacturer, it challenges the standard for safety certification. While the Netherlands approved FSD and several other countries followed suit, France and Norway have remained cautious, and Germany is still determining its stance, having required Tesla to rename the system "Tesla Assisted Driving."

Currently, there are no publicly available independent or peer-reviewed studies proving FSD is safer than a human driver, forcing authorities to rely on Tesla’s own data. With an EU-wide vote pending that requires support from 55% of member countries representing 65% of the population, the outcome will depend on whether regulators can independently scrutinize Tesla's claims or if the pressure campaign influences the final decision.

The Bottom Line

Tesla is leveraging both regulatory negotiations and public fan campaigns to accelerate FSD approval in Europe, despite a lack of independent third-party validation for its safety claims. The EU-wide vote remains pending, with regulators balancing Tesla's economic influence against the need for rigorous, independent safety verification.