For years, millions of euros in Brussels parking fines issued to the owners of foreign vehicles went unpaid. Now, the Brussels parking agency Parking.brussels is bringing in a specialised debt collection agency to collect these fines and allow the agency ‘to treat all motorists equally.’
In recent years, the collection of parking fines from the owners of certain vehicles with foreign number plates has been very complicated. “Due to the lack of reciprocal agreements with numerous countries, the procedures were lengthy, costly and often inefficient,” Parking.brussels says.
Figures from the office of Brussels Mobility Minister Elke Van den Brandt (Flemish ecologist Groen) showed that, as a result, the collection rate in 2023 was a mere 9.74 per cent and had fallen to just 9.07 per cent by 2024. In 2023, 301,289 fines were issued; in 2024, this rose to 431,573. Yet only 29,346 and 39,144 of these fines were actually collected. In 2023, this meant that €9.3 million remained uncollected; in 2024, the figure was €15.8 million.
“Of the total number of parking fines issued in Brussels, 15 per cent are in connection with vehicles with foreign number plates,” says Sara Jasmes, spokesperson for Parking.brussels.
Specialised agency on the case
As a result, in June 2024, Parking.brussels decided to adjust its enforcement methods temporarily. From that point onwards, foreign number plates were no longer checked by parking attendants on foot, but only by scanning vehicles. In this way, Parking.brussels said it was able to focus its resources on “procedures that had a real impact”.
To tackle the problem structurally, Parking.brussels put a contract out to tender with a view to appoint a specialist service provider for international debt collection. The selected company has been on the case since November 2025 and “has shown very encouraging results.”
“As early as the first quarter of 2026, fines collected abroad equalled the entire amount collected in 2025. The results enable a more efficient and balanced management of cases involving vehicles registered in other countries,” Parking.brussels says.
"Equal treatment for all motorists"
The specialist company can work with the Brussels parking agency for four years. After that, Parking.brussels must issue a new tender for the contract.
From now on, however, parking attendants on foot can once again be deployed. “The aim is clear: to ensure equal treatment for all motorists. Every user of the public space must comply with the same rules,” emphasises Floris Tack, Managing Director of Parking.brussels.
“The federal government now also has agreements with the Netherlands and France to exchange data. That makes everything much easier,” explains Sara Jasmes. “Previously, we often had to deal with legal proceedings abroad. That was very costly. Now a specialist company handles that. This includes also cars with number plates from Switzerland, Italy, Spain and Bulgaria.”