Final law on cross-border enforcement agreed

ETSC has welcomed the final approval of an update to rules on the enforcement of road traffic rules across EU borders by the European Parliament and EU Member States.

Current EU rules on cross-border enforcement have helped increase compliance with road safety traffic rules by non-resident drivers. Nonetheless, in 2019 some 40% of cross-border offences were committed with impunity, either because the offender was not identified or because payment of the fine was not enforced. The new directive addresses these issues with new provisions improving cooperation between Member States. Besides the automated exchange of information between national authorities, mutual assistance procedures to identify the offender and to enforce fines will be introduced.

New offences have been included such as ‘hit and run’ in addition to the most frequent and egregious offences, such as speeding, drink- and drug-driving.

ETSC would like to see a way of applying penalty points across borders in the future. 

The legislation will need to be written into national law in EU Member States before coming into force.