The drone industry is diverse, innovative and international. It has an enormous potential for growth with the associated possibility to create jobs. To ensure a safe, secure and environmentally friendly development, and to respect the citizens’ legitimate concerns for privacy and data protection, EASA has been tasked by the European Commission — following the Riga Conference1 and its associated Declaration — to develop a regulatory framework for drone operations, as well as concrete proposals for the regulation of low-risk drone operations.
Both aspects are included in this consultation document together with a chapter containing background information.
Following this consultation, the EASA will submit a technical opinion to the European Commission by the end of 2015.
This Advance Notice of Proposed Amendment (ANPA) reflects the principles laid down in the Riga Declaration.
It follows a risk- and performance-based approach; it is progressive and operation-centric.
It introduces three categories of operations, as already proposed in the published EASA Concept of Operations for Drones:
1) ‘Open’ category (low risk):
Safety is ensured through operational limitations, compliance with industry standards, requirements on certain functionalities, and a minimum set of operational rules. Enforcement shall be ensured by the police.
2) ‘Specific operation’ category (medium risk):
Authorisation by National Aviation Authorities (NAAs), possibly assisted by a Qualified Entity (QE) following a risk assessment performed by the operator. A manual of operations shall list the risk mitigation measures.
3) ‘Certified’ category (higher risk):
Requirements comparable to manned aviation requirements. Oversight by NAAs (issue of licenses and approval of maintenance, operations, training, Air Traffic Management (ATM)/Air Navigation Services (ANS) and aerodrome organisations) and by EASA (design and approval of foreign organisations).
This regulatory framework will encompass European rules for all drones in all weight classes.
The amendments to Regulation (EC) No 216/2008, which are under way, will reflect the above.
This change will be part of the ‘aviation package’ legislative proposal that is to be issued in November 2015 by the European Commission
The ANPA 2015-10 ‘Introduction of a regulatory framework for the operation of drones’ was published on31 July 2015 and is now open for consultation.
Click HERE for a link to this document.
To submit comments, please use EASA’s automated Comment-Response Tool (CRT) available at http://hub.easa.europa.eu/crt/
You have to register yourself on CRT in order to access the system & to be able to submit your comments.
The deadline for the submission of comments is 25 September 2015.
NOTES
a) This ANPA is of capital importance for the RPAS community (manufacturers & operators) in all countries.
b) No regulatory authority in any country has proposed a draft regulation that is comparable in scope & approach.
c) The European Commission sees the introduction of Light RPAS (MTOM <25 kg) as a top priority.
d) Consequently, EASA is fast-tracking this ANPA.
e) The final version of this document will have a profound impact on the RPAS community in Europe.
f) It will most probably also influence the national regulations in countries outside of Europe as EASA has coordinated it with JARUS.
h) It is therefore critical that the RPAS community (manufacturers & operators) makes its voice heard.