Luxembourg Announces Introduction of Automatic Licence Plate Recognition System

On Wednesday 24 September 2025, Luxembourg Minister for Home Affairs, Léon Gloden, in the presence of Alain Engelhardt, Deputy Director General of the Grand Ducal Police, presented the draft law concerning the introduction of an Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system.

The Ministry for Home Affairs said the ANPR system, originally foreseen under the 2023–2028 coalition agreement, is part of the fight against national, cross-border and organised crime and called the use of modern technologies “ essential to enhance citizens’ security”. 

According to the ministry, the ANPR system will enable the Grand Ducal Police to record the number plates of vehicles circulating on the road network and compare them with national and international databases. The ministry said: “The objective is clear: to increase the operational capacity of law enforcement in critical situations related to national, international and organised crime, such as the search for stolen vehicles, locating missing persons, drug trafficking and combating terrorism and organised crime.”

Minister Gloden remarked: “Technology in the service of security: we are not creating a surveillance state; we are enhancing safety. Through automatic number plate recognition, we are taking a further, significant step in the fight against cross-border and organised crime, in a targeted and data-protection-compliant manner.” He added: “The ANPR system constitutes a modern, efficient and proportionate tool. It aims to protect citizens and will allow us to act more rapidly where every minute counts. Data is the gold of the twenty-first century.”

The Grand Ducal Police see the implementation of the ANPR system as a major operational support feature, enabling greater efficiency and effectiveness in numerous investigations. Alain Engelhardt referred to the implementation as “an absolutely necessary means in the fight against crime”.