Currently, drones lighter than 150kg, which is in fact most
of them, fall under the jurisdiction of national
authorities and therefore EU manufacturers and operators
are subject to different design and safety
requirements.
According to the informal agreement reached on Thursday
morning, the design and manufacture of
drones will have to comply with EU basic requirements on
safety, security and personal data protection.
The EU Commission is tasked with defining more specific
requirements, for instance on what kind of drones should be
equipped with features such as altitude limits, maximum
operating distance, collision avoidance, flight
stabilisation and automated landing.
EU countries will need to ensure that operators of drones
that can cause significant harm to people, i.e. by crashing
into them, or present risks to privacy, security or the
environment, are registered. These drones will also need to
be individually marked to be easily identified.
The aim is to provide a uniform level of safety across the
EU and greater clarity to drone manufacturers and operators
to help in boosting the sector.
Identifying civil aviation risks earlier
The agreed regulation also updates EU safety legislation
for the aviation sector. With air traffic set to double in
the next decades, the aim is to create a more flexible,
risk-based system at EU and member state levels, which
allows potential threats to be identified earlier, while
maintaining a high level of safety and ensuring that
European industry remains competitive.
Member states and the Commission will also boost
cooperation in aviation security matters, including
cyber-security.
Quote
Rapporteur Marian-Jean Marinescu (EPP, RO): “The
agreement today is very good news for air passengers
and industry. I am satisfied that I succeeded in
introducing all the EP proposals in the final text.”
“Provisions on drones constitute the first EU-level
rules for these new participants in air traffic. The
rules will ensure safety, security and protection of
privacy for EU citizens.”
Next steps
The provisional deal now needs to be approved by the
Council of Ministers (EU governments) and the
European Parliament as a whole, before it can enter
into force.
Quick Facts
Drones to be covered by EU safety rules are those
that in the case of impact against a person, can
transfer energy above 80 joules.
Civil drone technology could account for an estimated
10% of the EU aviation market within the next 10
years (i.e. about €15 billion per year). According to
the Commission, the drone industry could create some
150,000 jobs in the EU by 2050.
