Mandate of EASA, the European Authority in Aviation Safety, officially broadened to embrace drones.
This is good news for the European drone industry. Having a strong regulator is a benefit in safety-minded industries such as aeronautics. A European-wide framework will facilitate investment in the ecosystem and favour market expansion.
On 11 September 2018 the European Parliament adopted updated aviation safety rules for Europe including a new mandate for EASA that redefines the Agency’s competences. Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 empowers the Agency to propose to the European Commission the technical expertise to regulate drones of all sizes, including the small ones.
These first EU-wide regulations for civil drones are based on an innovative way of regulating, where the rules are kept as simple as possible with a strong focus on the particular risk of the operations: flying the same drone over a city centre or over the sea entails a completely different risk. It takes into account the expertise of many international players in the drone domain. They will allow remotely piloted aircraft to fly safely in European airspace and bring legal certainty for this rapidly expanding industry.
For more information, follow the link to EASA’s website:
Anne-Lise Scaillierez