Nearly 7 in 10 Foreigners Pay Belgian Traffic Fines
Nearly seven out of ten foreign drivers pay their Belgian traffic fines, according to new data from the Belgian Federal Public Service (FOD) Justice. Since 2021, the agency has processed more than 5.3 million traffic fines for offenders from other EU countries, with approximately 3.6 million — or 67 percent — successfully collected, as VRT NWS reported.
“You can’t just escape a fine,” said Edward Landtsheere, spokesperson for FOD Justice.
Significant Differences Between Neighboring Countries
The overall compliance rate masks striking disparities between Belgium’s neighbors. Dutch drivers are the most consistent payers, with approximately 86 percent settling their fines. Luxembourg drivers follow at about 80 percent, while German drivers pay roughly 75 percent of their Belgian fines.
French drivers, however, present a notable outlier. Only about half of Belgian traffic fines issued to French motorists are paid — a rate significantly lower than other neighboring countries. Over the past five years, more than 1.5 million fines were issued to French drivers, with nearly half remaining unpaid.
By comparison, the collection rate for domestic offenders in Belgium is approximately 90 percent.
Why French Drivers Pay Less
Landtsheere attributes the lower French payment rate primarily to data quality issues rather than deliberate non-compliance. “One of the explanations is that for French vehicles we don’t have sufficient data in all files to correctly identify the offender,” he told VRT NWS.
Fines are regularly returned because the initial information from European databases — such as the identification of the vehicle holder — turns out to be incorrect. “We will further investigate with our French partners how it’s possible that we sometimes get no result for a French offender,” Landtsheere said.
Wider European Disparities
The gaps extend well beyond Belgium’s immediate neighbors. “We see significant differences within Europe in the extent to which Belgian traffic fines are paid,” Landtsheere noted. In Romania, only 37 percent of Belgian fines are paid, while in Bulgaria the rate drops to just 27 percent.
For offenders from outside the European Union, enforcement is even more challenging. Since 2021, approximately 145,000 traffic fines were registered for non-EU offenders, with less than 20 percent paid.
“You must always compare those percentages with the number of fines,” Landtsheere cautioned. “Most violations are still committed by drivers from our neighboring countries.”
The enforcement system relies on the EU’s Cross-Border Enforcement Directive, which allows member states to exchange vehicle registration data and pursue traffic offenders across borders. If a fine remains unpaid, the offender’s home country government can enforce collection, including through tax authorities. Belgium has also introduced payment orders as a final phase before forced collection, as detailed in the FOD Justice press release.
EU Expands Cross-Border Enforcement
The European Union is now expanding the scope of cross-border traffic enforcement from 8 to 18 offences. The new directive will cover additional violations including dangerous overtaking, ignoring overtaking bans, not respecting driving distance, parking offences, and crossing full white lines, as The Brussels Times reported.
The expansion is part of the EU’s “Vision Zero” initiative, which aims to halve traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2030 and approach zero by 2050. Clearer cross-border rules are intended to ensure that drivers respect traffic regulations even when abroad.
EU member states will have 2.5 years to integrate the new rules into national legislation, according to Autogekte.nl.
What to Watch For
The data highlights both the progress and persistent challenges of cross-border traffic enforcement in Europe. While Belgium has improved its collection rate from roughly 63 percent in 2019-2020 to 67 percent today, significant gaps remain — particularly for French, Eastern European, and non-EU offenders.
As the EU’s expanded directive takes effect, the key questions will be whether improved data sharing and enforcement cooperation can close these gaps, and whether the “Vision Zero” goal of dramatically reducing traffic fatalities can be achieved through more effective cross-border accountability.