‘Half of Belgian fines to foreigners not paid’

Belgian police forces sent 560,000 fines abroad last year. That was already an increase of 30 percent compared to 2020, but this year the Belgians only really accelerate with fines for foreigners: in the first half of 2022, according to Gocar.be, there were already 540,000 fines imposed on residents of other EU countries. to land.

Half not paid

That is almost twice as many as last year. Still, collecting the fines is difficult, because almost half of the foreign drivers (48 percent) have not paid. Only 8 percent of registered motorists are also shocked by an increase for defaulters.

Despite recent and new agreements on fine collection between the various countries by legal means or through bailiffs, of the 135 million arrears over 2022, 2021 and the first half of 2022, only 70.2 million euros have been recovered.

Dutch most often

Of all foreigners, the Dutch receive the receipt most often. No less than 38.5 percent of all fines go to Dutch road users, followed by the French (26.7 percent), Germans (8.4 percent) and Luxembourgers (7.7 percent).

Although the Dutch are at the top with 66 percent when it comes to fast handling, one in three motorists does not pay their fine, or at least not within the set period. The Austrians are also relatively good payers with a percentage of 60.5 percent, followed by the Germans with 55 percent. These figures are undoubtedly related to the so-called Eucaris system, which makes it possible to exchange cross-border information and collect fines in other EU countries.

The Bulgarians have the worst pay morale: only 27 percent pay the fine. This is followed by the Spaniards with 30 percent, the Poles with 36 percent, followed by the Portuguese (37 percent).

‘Brits are free’

The Belgians therefore mainly fear the British, who can now tear ‘free’ through Belgium, since they have left the EU and no longer fall under the Eucaris system.