Finland has cleared Tesla's driver-assistance software for use on public roads, with the approval taking effect immediately.

Finland's transport regulator, Traficom, said on Wednesday that Tesla owners in the country can now use the system. However, an EU-wide vote expected within a few weeks could overturn this approval as well as similar clearances granted by individual member states.

What Traficom recognized

The Finnish transport authority accepted the temporary approval issued by the Dutch vehicle authority RDW in April. As a result, Tesla's system, now branded as Tesla Assisted Driving, may be operated on Finnish roads as a driver-assistance feature, and dealers can begin offering it to customers right away. The decision was made on November 10 and announced on Wednesday morning, EVwire reported.

Finland is now the eleventh EU country to approve the assisted driving system. The Netherlands was the first, followed by Lithuania, Estonia, Denmark, Belgium, Slovenia, Czechia, Croatia, Slovakia and Latvia, according to EVwire. Latvia granted its approval roughly two weeks ago.

The system enables a Tesla to steer, brake and accelerate on its own, although the driver must continue to watch the road and remain ready to take control. Traficom has also made clear that drivers remain responsible for what happens on the road, including any speeding fines.

What Tesla changed before approval

Finland approved the system after Tesla made several adjustments. The most visible change was the feature's name: Tesla retired “Full Self-Driving” in favor of Tesla Assisted Driving (“Tesla Avustettu ajo” in Finnish). The company also stopped using the term “self-driving” in its advertising in Finland and Sweden. The renaming and advertising pullback bring Tesla's public messaging in line with how the technology is regulated in Europe: as driver assistance that keeps the human driver responsible, not as self-driving.

Senior Specialist Jukka Juhola said the new name “helps users and the market understand the true nature of the system,” according to Reuters.

Tesla also introduced changes aimed at preventing speeding. Drivers can no longer set the system to travel much faster than the posted speed limit, and any setting that allows the car to exceed the limit resets each time the vehicle is switched on.

The modifications mirror those approved by the Dutch vehicle authority RDW on November 3, which cut the maximum speed permitted above the limit from 50% to 10%. Tesla also agreed to the same rule with Germany's transport ministry in early October.

Traficom said drivers do not need a new vehicle inspection to use the system. They may, however, require one if they have modified their cars in ways that could affect how the software operates, such as fitting unusual tire sizes or lowering the suspension.

Why Finland moved early — and the winter catch

Traficom said it approved the system ahead of the EU's decision for two reasons: Tesla had already implemented the required changes, and the agency wanted Finnish drivers to become familiar with the software before the worst of winter arrives.

Winter conditions could nonetheless affect how well the system performs. Juhola said cold weather was taken into account both when Tesla designed the software and when officials tested it. He warned that the system “may be subject to various limitations if the cameras become covered in snow, slush or other dirt, or if traffic conditions become more challenging than usual.”

The relatively small number of Teslas in Finland also made officials more comfortable with the decision. Between 8,000 and 9,000 Teslas in the country can use the system, representing only about 0.3% of all cars on Finnish roads, according to Reuters.

“It represents around 0.3 per cent of the entire car fleet on roads in Finland, so that's actually one of the reasons why we feel we can move forward,” Juhola stated.

EU vote could overturn the approvals

Traficom stressed that Finland's approval does not mean the country will vote in Tesla's favor at the EU level. The European Commission's Technical Committee on Motor Vehicles will hold the vote, although no date has been set. Traficom expects a decision this winter, possibly at the next meeting in December.

Tesla needs backing from at least 15 of the EU's 27 member states to secure approval across the bloc, and those countries must together account for at least 65% of the EU's population, according to EVwire. If the vote fails, the approvals already granted by individual countries will be canceled.

Tesla has also yet to win approval in four of Europe's largest markets. France, Germany, Italy and Spain have not approved the assisted driving system, Tesla Mag reported. All four are among the EU's most populous member states, giving them considerable weight under the vote's population-based requirement.