Speeding tickets may soon catch up with you: drivers who commit offences in other EU countries may be forced to pay their fines in their country of residence.

Reporter: Ending impunity on Europe’s roads

https://api.multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/documents/20125/15510135/M003-0121-EN.srt

Drivers will have to pay more heed  on Europe's roads.

New measures will target those  who commit offences abroad.

Statistically drivers break more rules  when away from home.

Soon it will be possible to identify  and sanction them.

We'll stay here until  twenty to or quarter to, OK?

Keep moving.  Please turn off the engine.

Foreign drivers account for  only 5% of traffic on the EU’s roads,

This is the case on  the Belgo-French border

where Belgian police are trying  to catch offenders in the act.

When we focus checks on the roads  connecting France and Belgium,

let's say that for every  20 speeding offences,

10-12 acts are committed by  French drivers.

We get the feeling that drivers think  they'll get away scot-free.

A growing and justified belief,  most recorded offences,

mainly by speed cameras,  go unpunished.

Police forces  don't always manage to pursue

this category of offender  once they get back home.

a lack of credibility and  a policy that is becoming discriminatory

insofar as we can pursue and sanction  an offender who lives in Belgium

but we're not always able  to go after foreign offenders,

principally for an offence  that is very sensitive - speeding.

Ending the impunity of non-resident  offenders is the goal of a draft EU law

adopted by Europe's transport ministers.

and guarantee the same treatment for  all drivers irrespective of where they live.

An electronic exchange network  should be put into place by police forces.

Its objective is to identify and sanction  offenders from other EU countries.

Once identified wayward drivers receive  the fine by post in their own language.

Seven offences are covered:  speeding, failure to wear a seat belt,

running a red light, driving under  the influence of drink or drugs,

failure to wear a helmet,  driving on an unauthorised road,

EU driving penalties  will not be harmonised,

so the law of the country where the  offence was committed would prevail.

If offenders don't pay,  a previous agreement between states

stipulates that penalties can be imposed  by the country where the driver resides.

Ideally things would go further and enable  the offender who doesn't pay...

Let's take the example of  a French offender in Belgium

They could be pursued in France for  the offence committed in Belgium.

That's the dream of those on the front line  - the police, magistrates and judges.

The text of the future directive is currently  under negotiation in the Parliament.

35,000 people died on  Europe's roads in 2009.

The European Commission wants to  halve that number by 2020.