June 3, 2019

The European Commission has adopted an Implementing Regulation to ensure that drone traffic across Europe is safe and secure for people on the ground and in the air. The rules will apply to all operators of drones, both professionals and those flying drones for leisure.

The new rules, which will replace existing national rules in EU Member States, address safety issues and contain important building blocks to mitigate against drone-related security risks. Through operators’ registration, remote identification, and definition of geographical zones, all national authorities will have the means to prevent misuse or unlawful drone activities. As of 2020 drone operators will have to be registered with national authorities. In principle, the rules apply to all drones regardless of weight. However, the majority of drones concerned will belong to the market of mass-produced drones, which merely need to meet a minimum set of requirements, such as registration and electronic identification. Operators of drones weighing less than 25kg will be able to fly those without prior permission under a certain conditions, e.g. the drone must not fly higher than 120 metres and the operator must always keeps the drone in his/her visual line of sight and fly it far away from people.

Member States will be able to define so-called “no-fly zones” where, using satellite geo-location, drones will not be allowed to enter. “No-fly zones” may include airports and airfields or city centres.

The European Commission and the EU Aviation Safety Agency will shortly publish guidelines and so-called “standard scenarios” for drone operations that will help drone operators to comply with the new rules. The European Commission is also developing an institutional, regulatory and architectural framework for the provision of U-space services, which aim to enable complex drone operations with a high degree of automation. Finally, a systematic review of all existing EU aviation rules is progressing to identify the necessary changes to improve applicability to drone operations. To read the European Commission’s press release in full, click here.