The European Commission, Directorate Enterprise and Industry has just published an 8 page document describing the boost that RPAS can give to the European economy. The document highlights that more than 20 RPAS-related projects in various areas are currently being financed under the 7th Framework Programme for research and innovation.
The document continues by describing the current RPAS situation and supplies information obtained during the European UAS Panel process, and acknowledges that 80% of the companies involved in the development, manufacturing and exploitation of Light RPAS are small and medium-sized enterprises.
The document draws attention to the issues that have to be addressed and confirms that the European Commission will be able to contribute to these efforts through Horizon 2020, the new financial instrument for research and innovation, which will be launched in 2014.
The document further makes reference the creation of the European RPAS Roadmap for the safe and progressive integration of RPAS into the European airspace system from 2016, which will be made public in the near future.
To access the complete document, click here.