Luxembourg to Introduce Legal Framework For Automated Vehicles

On Thursday 25 June 2026, Luxembourg’s Ministry of Mobility and Public Works reported that Yuriko Backes, Luxembourg Minister of Mobility and Public Works, had presented a new draft bill aimed at establishing a comprehensive legal framework for automated road vehicles in Luxembourg.

According to the ministry, the presentation of the bill by Minister Backes took place during the meeting of the Mobility and Public Works Committee of the Chamber of Deputies on Thursday 25 June.

The ministry said the initiative is part of the guidelines set out in the 2023–2028 coalition agreement, which makes autonomous driving a key lever for modernisation, innovation and economic diversification, and reflects the Government’s strategic ambition to position the country among Europe’s leading actors in this field.

Minister Backes remarked: “This draft bill marks a major step forward for Luxembourg: it enables our legal framework to evolve in order to integrate automated driving technologies in a modern, secure and responsible way, serving people. Our objective is clear: to develop smart, future-oriented mobility while ensuring robust regulation and placing trust and people’s safety at the heart of our action. It also reflects our ambition to position Luxembourg among the pioneering countries in automated mobility.”

A legal framework adapted to technological developments

The ministry detailed that draft bill aims to adapt the legal framework to take account of technological developments in automated driving. To this end, it enshrines the possibility for an automated system to perform the dynamic control of the vehicle in place of the human driver.

In this context, the text establishes a structured framework covering the entire lifecycle of the vehicles concerned, from their approval and registration through to their deployment, use and supervision. It introduces precise definitions to distinguish between different levels of automation (levels 3 and 4) and to clearly identify the roles and responsibilities of the various actors involved, including in particular the driver (female/male), the manufacturer, and remote operators. Passenger cars are initially included within the scope. This structure provides a legal framework for situations in which the automated driving system effectively exercises control of the vehicle.

A structured and gradual approach in support of innovation

According to the ministry, the draft is part of the national strategy “Automatiséiert Fueren 2028”, presented on 23 October 2025 by the Minister of Mobility and Public Works and the Minister of the Economy, SMEs, Energy and Tourism, which provides for a gradual and controlled rollout of new uses such as automated shuttles, automated parking, and certain logistics applications. This step-by-step approach supports innovation while taking account of constraints related to traffic environments and infrastructure.

It is also part of a coherent approach aligned with European Union law, incorporating current requirements and allowing for future developments. The text therefore provides, in particular, for the use of Grand-Ducal regulations to govern technical and operational aspects, ensuring a high level of adaptability, flexibility and regulatory responsiveness.

Safety, responsibility and trust at the core of the system

The ministry highlighted that safety is regarded as a central element of this development. It said the text provides in particular that these systems must be capable of detecting their own operational limits, requesting human intervention when necessary, and automatically initiating a safe-stop manoeuvre in the absence of a response. The recording and use of data relating to incidents and accidents contribute to improving the safety of systems and infrastructure.

Automated driving is thus presented as a promising lever for strengthening road safety and potentially reducing the number of collisions by limiting certain risky behaviours. The achievement of these overall safety objectives is nevertheless dependent on the complete reliability of the systems, in order to effectively protect all users.

The ministry noted that the adaptation of the legal framework requires a redefinition of responsibilities, taking into account the fact that vehicle control may be exercised by an automated system. The draft therefore introduces a regime aligning liability with the actor who is effectively exercising dynamic control, whether, depending on the situation, this is the driver (female/male), the remote operator, or the manufacturer.

Responsibilities are clearly defined:

• manufacturers guarantee the compliance and safety of systems as well as their evolution throughout their lifecycle;

• drivers must be able to retake control of the vehicle at any time if necessary (level three);

• and, for highly automated vehicles (level four), a specific remote management system is established, based on qualified and accredited operators responsible for supervising vehicles and intervening where necessary.

Moreover, the draft provides a regulatory framework for automated transport services, which are subject to authorisation and strict requirements in terms of organisation, safety and service continuity. In this regard, the circulation of automated vehicles is permitted across the entire national territory, subject to prohibition where safety conditions require it.