traffic fines
After the shortcut has been closed by an Antwerp bailiff, a London debt collection agency tries to obtain the personal data of Belgian drivers who have entered the low-emission zone via Italy.
Belgians who travel to London by car risk an unpleasant surprise afterwards: a hefty fine, sometimes of several thousand euros, for not paying the low-emission tax or the congestion tax. Sometimes the driver has actually paid, or the vehicle complies with the emission standards. Sometimes the fine is justified, but the amount is tailored to trucks, not passenger cars.
The problem is that the London ANPR cameras do record the number plates and the country of origin, but the company that collects the fees, Euro Parking Collection, has no access to the vehicle specifications or the driver’s personal data. This information is available from the Belgian Vehicle Registration Service (DIV). There is a European exchange platform for this data, Eucaris, but since Brexit, England no longer has access to it.
Euro Parking Collection previously avoided this obstacle by requesting driver data via an Antwerp bailiff. This is illegal and led to a complaint from the FPS Mobility with the Data Protection Authority and a disciplinary investigation by the National Chamber of Bailiffs. MP Michaël Freilich (N-VA) exposed this practice.
Freilich now discovered that the British debt collection agency has since requested the management data via the Italian counterpart of the DIV. It does have access to the exchange platform Eucaris, but sharing that information with the British remains illegal. Italian data protection has launched an investigation and the Belgian Minister for Mobility Georges Gilkinet has raised the matter with the European Commission and the FPS Foreign Affairs.
Do not pay is the official advice of the FPS Mobility for those who receive a fine from London in the mail. Although with the warning that anyone who returns to London by car may still be required to pay on site.
