Tesla headed for its biggest fight in Europe yet

Tesla’s recovery in Europe has been remarkable.

Europe, the world’s second-largest EV market behind China, seemed done with the company in 2025. Tesla (TSLA) lost market share in European countries where it had previously been popular as the influx of cheaper Chinese models and CEO Elon Musk‘s foray into politics eroded his personal brand and the company’s sales across the continent.

Tesla has pulled out all the stops to turn its European sales around, including offering new, cheaper versions of the Model 3 and Model Y. After a full year of declines in 2025, the strategy appears to be paying off in 2026.

Tesla’s May European resurgence

France sales: +655% to 5,446
Norway sales: +29% to 3,345
Denmark sales: +136% to 1,750
Spain sales: +113% to 1,690
Sweden sales: +71% to 858
Source: Reuters

But the company’s recovery isn’t limited to just sales. After years of hesitation, Europe seems to finally be warming up to Full Self-Driving (Supervised). FSD has been approved by a handful of European countries, putting it in line to be approved across the European Union as soon as Q1 2027.

But the company is running into its stiffest opposition yet from a European country whose transit authority is recommending that the country vote against Tesla FSD’s European bloc-wide approval.

Tesla FSD is running into regulatory trouble in Sweden. JOSEP LAGO / Getty Images

Tesla FSD European Union approval faces opposition from Sweden

The decline in sales from Sweden was a big factor in Tesla’s overall decline in Europe last year.

Tesla’s sales in the Nordic country dropped 70% in 2025, according to Investing.com, as its ongoing labor dispute there is undoubtedly playing a part in its decline.

But now, at least one of Sweden’s transportation regulatory bodies is recommending that the nation become one of the highest-profile opposers to Tesla’s FSD dreams in Europe.

The Swedish Transport Administration (TRV) sent a letter recommending that Tesla FSD (Supervised) not be approved for the European Union unless the system’s ability to ignore speed limits is removed, Reuters reported, citing a previously unreported letter obtained through a freedom of information request.

The TRV sent the letter, dated April 30, to the EU’s Technical Committee on Motor Vehicles, which is scheduled to reconvene on June 30 to discuss Tesla’s approval ahead of an official vote at a later date.

Tesla FSD allows users to utilize a “Speed Offset” setting that lets users exceed posted speed limits by a margin that the driver sets. But “allowing automated systems to systematically exceed legal speed limits… risks undermining both the legal framework and the expected safety benefits of vehicle automation,” according to the letter.

“Failing this (limiting ‘speed offset’), the Swedish Transport Administration recommends that TCMV vote against the proposed introduction,” the letter said, according to Reuters.

But the TRV is only one of Sweden’s transportation agencies. The Swedish Transport Agency (STA), Sweden’s other transportation regulator, reportedly also raised concerns with Tesla and Dutch regulator RDW during a two-hour meeting on June 4, according to Reuters.

But the RDW approved FSD in April and is backing its approval across Europe.

The STA says it is still “assessing the matter to establish a Swedish position.”

Which European countries have approved Tesla FSD?

Late in May, Tesla had some good news for its fans in the small European country of Estonia: Tesla FSD has been approved.

Estonia, which is sandwiched between Latvia to the south and the Gulf of Finland to the north, became the third European country to authorize use of the driver assistance tool after its Transpordiamet (Transport Administration) granted the tech approval by recognizing the same type of certification issued by the Netherlands, its fellow European Union member.

According to Teslarati, along with their approval, Estonian officials emphasized that FSD (Supervised) is classified as a Level 2 autonomy system, meaning drivers should maintain full attention, keep their hands on the wheel, and be ready to intervene.

More Tesla:

Since then, Denmark and Belgium have also approved the technology, bringing the total of European countries with approval to five, according to FSD Tracker.

As soon as FSD was approved in the Netherlands in April, that set the stage for the company and the Netherlands to petition the EU to make the technology legal across all member states.

Earlier this year, EU members heard from Dutch officials about their decision to approve FSD’s use in their country and why the rest of the EU should do the same. For FSD to be approved, committee members representing 55% of member states and 65% of their populations must vote in favor of the measure.

This story was originally published by TheStreet on Jun 23, 2026, where it first appeared in the Automotive section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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