European Commission calls for tough standards to regulate civil drones
9 Apr 2014 12:37 PM
The
European Commission has today proposed to set tough new standards to regulate
the operations of civil drones (or "remotely piloted aircraft sytems"
– RPAS). The new standards will cover safety, security, privacy, data
protection, insurance and liability. The aim is to allow European industry to
become a global leader in the market for this emerging technology, while at the
same time ensuring that all the necessary safeguards are in
place.
Civil drones are increasingly being used in Europe, in
countries such as Sweden, France and the UK, in different sectors, but under a
fragmented regulatory framework. Basic national safety rules apply, but the
rules differ across the EU and a number of key safeguards are not addressed in
a coherent way.
Vice-President Siim Kallas, Commissioner for mobility
and transport, said: "Civil drones can check for damage on road and rail
bridges, monitor natural disasters such as flooding and spray crops with
pinpoint accuracy. They come in all shapes and sizes. In the future they may
even deliver books from your favourite online retailer. But many people,
including myself, have concerns about the safety, security and privacy issues
relating to these devices."
The
technology for civil drones is maturing and there is potential for significant
growth and job creation. On some estimates in the next 10 years it could be
worth 10% of the aviation market — that's €15 billion per
year. The Vice-President added, "If ever there was a right
time to do this, and to do this at a European level, it is now. Because
remotely piloted aircraft, almost by definition, are going to cross borders and
the industry is still in its infancy. We have an opportunity now to make a
single set of rules that everyone can work with, just like we do for larger
aircraft."
The new standards will cover the following
areas
Strict EU wide rules on safety
authorisations. Safety is the first priority for EU aviation
policy. EU standards will be based on the principle that civil drones (remotely
piloted aircraft) must provide an equivalent level of safety to
'manned' aviation operations. EASA, the European Aviation Safety
Agency, will start developing specific EU-wide standards for remotely piloted
aircraft.
Tough controls on privacy and data
protection. Data collected by remotely piloted aircraft, must
comply with the applicable data protection rules and data protection
authorities must monitor the subsequent collection and processing of personal
data. The Commission will assess how to ensure data protection rules apply
fully to remotely piloted aircraft and propose changes or specific guidance
where it is needed.
Controls to ensure security. Civil
drones can be subject to potential unlawful actions and security threats, like
other aircraft. EASA will start work to develop the necessary security
requirements, particularly to protect information streams, and then propose
specific legal obligations for all players concerned (e.g. air traffic
management, the operator, the telecom service providers), to be enforced by
national authorities.
A clear framework for liability and
insurance. The current third-party insurance regime has been
established mostly in terms of manned aircraft, where mass (starting from
500kg) determines the minimum amount of insurance. The Commission will assess
the need to amend the current rules to take into account the specificities of
remotely piloted aircraft.
Streamlining R&D and supporting new
industry. The Commission will streamline R&D work, in particular
the EU R&D funds managed by the SESAR Joint Undertaking to keep lead times for
promising technologies for the insertion of RPAS into the European airspace as
short as possible. SMEs and start-ups in the sector will get industrial support
to develop appropriate technologies (under Horizon 2020 and COSME
programmes).
What happens next?
The
Commission will carry out in 2014 an in-depth impact assessment to examine the
issues and define the best options to address them. This may be followed by a
legislative proposal, to be approved by Member States and the European
Parliament. In addition, EASA can immediately start to develop the necessary
safety standards. Other measures may include support actions under existing EU
programmes such as SESAR, Horizon 2020 or COSME. All this work aims to meet the
stated objective of the European Council of December 2013 to ensure the
progressive integration of RPAS into airspace as from 2016.
More information:
MEMO/14/259
STATEMENT/14/110
COMMUNICATION
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Contacts :
Helen
Kearns (+32 2 298 76 38)
Dale Kidd (+32
2 295 74 61)
For the public: Europe
Direct by
phone 00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11 or by email
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