Heidelberg
PV is spot on, a new DL will conform to the Euro model. I'm still carrying one of the old green licenses, on the few occasions I've had to produce it the French authorities have looked at it with some suspicion. Because of my status I can't swap it for a French one and I can't have a new UK version because I no longer have a UK address.
Frankly I am all for a European wide ID which would be accepted as valid ID for travel within all EU countries.
This already
almost exists, if you have a national ID card then you can travel to almost every country in the EU and a whole host of others. Even those countries which do not have national ID cards, like the UK (don't know if Ireland has ID cards), accept cards for border entry rather than passports. Within Schengen most border controls have gone but we are still obliged to carry our national ID cards and here in Strasbourg you often see the Police randomly stopping vehicles at the border with Germany. They get around the regulations by saying it's just a regular document check and it's coincidental that it's taking place at a border crossing (in most european countries the Police can randomly stop vehicles and/or persons to conduct a document check though not in the UK though of course)