Cross-border vehicle fines

Since 2015, the Cross Border Enforcement Directive has facilitated exchange of information between EU countries on traffic fines related to road safety offences. The scope covers offences like speeding, not wearing a seatbelt and drunk driving. For this system of information exchange to work optimally it is necessary to match the driver of the vehicle with the number plate, which requires the existence of a national database allowing leasing/rental companies to provide driver information. In this way, the fines can be sent directly to the driver and not to the owner, which is the leasing/rental company. Although this may work at national level, it is not a given that countries exchange driver data to the fine-issuing member state, as this is not required in the current regulation. If the driver/lessee is able to receive traffic fines directly, this eliminates costly and lengthy administrative procedures for the leasing/rental firm and enables outstanding fines to be resolved faster.

Find out more about the legislation

The European Commission is currently preparing an impact assessment report describing the policy options for consideration in a possible revision of the Cross Border Enforcement Directive. The Commission is taking into account the results of a study supporting the assessment of this Directive, conducted by a consortium of law firms and consultancies with feedback from Leaseurope. On 14 January, we also took part in an expert workshop on the revision of the Directive, organized by the European Commission, and will remain a key stakeholder in future discussions.

Leaseurope is calling for a revision of the Cross Border Enforcement Directive which addresses the current issue of leasing and rental companies having to deal with traffic fines linked to the driver/lessee of the vehicles they own. With the rapid increase of fines relating to vehicle access restrictions (UVARs) all over Europe, we support broadening the scope of the legislation to include cross-border exchange of information on other types of fines, like UVARs. This is essential for efficiency and to make sure that the issue of foreign traffic offenders can be tackled effectively.