The Belgian university city of Leuven (a historic Flemish city home to one of Europe's oldest universities) will begin using automated licence-plate-scanning vehicles to enforce parking rules from 1 October 2026, replacing traditional foot patrols in paid and low-traffic zones. The move has drawn sharp criticism from opposition party PVDA, which warns the system could act as a "fine machine," pointing to the city of Antwerp where similar scan cars saw parking fines surge from 169,000 in 2019 to nearly 676,000 in 2024, generating over €20 million in revenue. Mobility alderman Dirk Vansina (CD&V) insists the scan car simply takes over existing enforcement tasks without changing parking rules, describing the rollout as an initial trial, though opponents remain concerned about the role of a private operator and are calling for a broader council debate before the system is approved.