BRATISLAVA - Slovakia's Ministry of Transport said on Friday that it had officially recognized the preliminary type approval of Tesla's Full Self-Driving (Supervised) software, clearing drivers to use the driver-assistance system on Slovak roads. The driver remains fully responsible for the car, and Tesla has not said when the feature will reach Slovak owners.
The ministry said Slovakia is now one of only a few European countries to allow the system. In its statement, it described FSD (Supervised) as an advanced driver-assistance software package that helps cars in city and highway driving and can, on its own, accelerate, brake, steer, change lanes, pass through intersections and respond to traffic signs and traffic lights. It relies on cameras and neural networks for what the ministry called partially automated driving.
"I am glad that when it comes to modern technologies in transport, Slovakia is not falling behind," Transport Minister Jozef Ráž said, according to the statement, translated from Slovak. "Road safety is extremely important to us, which is why we will gladly support all innovations that increase it."
Mr. Ráž, who was nominated to the post by the Smer-SD party, according to the national news agency TASR, was explicit about the limits. "It is not a fully autonomous system, so one should not imagine that the driver's place in the cars will remain empty," he said, also translated from Slovak. "The driver is still fully responsible for the driving. The system therefore constantly monitors his attention, and if it detects that he is not paying attention to driving, it warns him and, if necessary, switches off."
Tesla confirmed the approval later on Friday. Its European account on X posted "Now approved in Slovakia" and "Rollout begins soon" at 7:04 a.m. Pacific time, according to Teslanorth, and Reuters reported the company's post. The post gave no date, software version or list of eligible cars.
Slovakia recognized the Dutch assessment rather than running its own, according to Not an FSD Tracker, which follows the approvals. The Dutch vehicle authority RDW granted a provisional approval on April 10 under Article 39 of Regulation (EU) 2018/858, and any other member state can accept that approval for its own roads in writing, the site said. By the count of that site and of Teslanorth, Slovakia is the ninth country to allow the system, after the Netherlands, Lithuania, Estonia, Denmark, Belgium, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Croatia.
When it granted the Dutch approval, RDW said it had tested the system for more than a year and a half on its test track and on public roads. "A vehicle with FSD Supervised is not self-driving," the agency said, calling it a driver-controlled assistance system in which the driver remains responsible and must always remain in control. RDW said sensors check whether the driver's eyes are on the road and whether the driver's hands are available to take over, and it noted that the European software version is not comparable to the version used in the United States.
Approval across the whole European Union is a separate step that requires a qualified majority in the EU's Technical Committee on Motor Vehicles. The committee discussed the Dutch file on Oct. 6 without a vote, and December is the earliest an EU-wide vote could take place, Reuters reported, according to the tracker's timeline. The same timeline cites a Reuters report that Mr. Ráž said on Oct. 7 that a recognition letter to the Netherlands was coming.
The product has also changed names. Tesla renamed FSD (Supervised) as Tesla Assisted Driving in Britain and Europe around Oct. 8, according to the tracker, and Teslanorth said most of Tesla's European websites now use the Assisted Driving label. The Slovak ministry used the original name.
How long Slovak owners will wait is unclear. Tesla Europe used the same "rollout begins soon" wording for the Czech Republic on Sept. 21 and for Croatia on Sept. 29, and Teslanorth said it had not seen a dated report of the first installations in either country. In the Netherlands, installations began less than 24 hours after approval, Teslanorth said, and Dutch drivers must accept a user agreement, watch an instruction video and pass a quiz before they can turn the system on.
Neither the ministry nor Tesla said which cars in Slovakia will be eligible or when the software will arrive. Until then, there is nothing for Slovak drivers to switch on.
