Fines and emergencies by country

Two separate pieces of EU law decide whether a ticket you collect abroad ever catches up with you. One of them finds out who you are. The other one makes you pay. Confusing the two is why so much advice on this subject is wrong.

The rule that identifies you

Directive (EU) 2015/413 lets a country where an offence happened look up the vehicle keeper in another Member State. Directive (EU) 2024/3237 rewrote it: in force since 19 January 2025, with Member States required to apply it in national law by 20 July 2027. Lookups run automatically through the EUCARIS system.

The amendment also widened the offence list from eight to seventeen. The original eight were speeding, drink or drug driving, not wearing a seat belt, failing to use a child restraint, using a mobile phone, running a red light, ignoring a stop sign and using a forbidden lane. The nine added are tailgating, dangerous overtaking, dangerous parking or stopping, crossing solid lines, wrong-way driving, blocking an emergency corridor, driving an overloaded vehicle, failing to respect vehicle-access restrictions, and hit-and-run.

The rule that collects the money

Council Framework Decision 2005/214/JHA is the instrument that turns a foreign penalty into an enforceable one. An authority in the issuing country sends the decision straight to the country where you live or hold property or income, and it is recognised without further formality. Road traffic offences are on the list where the usual dual-criminality check is dropped.

It only applies to final decisions, meaning your appeal routes are exhausted. And there is a floor: recognition may be refused where "the financial penalty will be below EUR 70 or the equivalent". The 2024 amendment uses the same EUR 70 line for cross-border enforcement assistance.

What a legitimate demand looks like

The revised directive replaced the old information letter with a proper traffic offence notice. It has to state the sanction, how to pay, your data protection rights and — importantly — where, when and how to appeal, all in the language of your vehicle registration document.

Who is allowed to chase you is a national question. The European Consumer Centres point out that in Germany a foreign fine of EUR 70 or more is enforced only by the Federal Office of Justice at the request of the foreign authority, and that debt-collection agencies have no authority to do it. If a private company writes to you about a foreign ticket, check before paying.

Outside the EU the picture changes

The United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein sit outside these instruments. That does not make their charges free. Transport for London passes unpaid ULEZ charges on foreign plates to a private enforcement agent that traces the keeper through the relevant national licensing authority, and Switzerland relies on bilateral assistance treaties with its neighbours.

The number to call

Across the EU, 112 reaches emergency services and is answered in the country you are calling from. Several countries outside the EU keep separate police, fire and ambulance numbers instead, and the table below lists what each national authority actually confirms rather than assuming 112 works everywhere.