Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
The European Drone Strategy, adopted today by the European Commission, sets out a vision for the further development of the European drone market. It is based on the European Union's safety framework for operating and specifying the technical requirements for drones, which are the most advanced in the world. The new strategy outlines how Europe can pursue large-scale commercial drone operations while introducing new opportunities in the sector.
Thanks to the European Union's comprehensive regulatory framework, drones have flown safely for hundreds of thousands of hours in European skies, for example surveying infrastructure, monitoring oil spills or taking soil samples. Projects to use drones for medical air deliveries and transportation of medical samples between healthcare services are also making good progress. The implementation in January 2023 of the "U-space" system, which is a unique European system in the world for safely managing the movement of unmanned aircraft, will pave the way for an increase in operations.
Before moving forward with these innovative technologies, UNHCR wants to ensure community support for drones. To address concerns about noise, safety and privacy, the strategy calls for national, regional and local municipalities to ensure that drone services align with citizens' needs.
The strategy envisions the following drone services becoming part of European life by 2030:
Emergency services, mapping, photographing, inspection and monitoring within the applicable legal frameworks by civilian drones, as well as urgent delivery of small shipments, such as biological samples or medicines.
Innovative air transportation services, such as air taxis, offer regular passenger transportation services, initially with a pilot on board, but with the ultimate goal of fully automating operations.
Unlocking the potential of the EU drone market and services requires identifying the building blocks of technology, such as artificial intelligence, robotics, semiconductors, EU space services and mobile communications. This will help the EU build an innovative and competitive drone sector, reducing strategic dependencies.
The strategy also identifies areas for synergies between civil and defense UAVs, and to increase anti-UAV capabilities and system resilience.
19 actions of the drone market

The Commission will now launch work on 19 key operational, technical and financial measures of the strategy to build the right regulatory and commercial environment for the drone aerospace and market of the future:
Adoption of common rules for airworthiness, new training requirements for pilots of remote aircraft and eVTOL (electric manned vertical take-off and landing).
Funding the creation of an online platform to support local stakeholders and industry in implementing innovative and sustainable air mobility.
Develop a strategic roadmap for drone technology to identify priority areas for research and innovation, to reduce existing strategic dependencies and avoid the emergence of new ones.
Define criteria for naming a cybersecurity certified drone.
This work will pave the way for large-scale commercial operations and ensure that Europe benefits from synergies between the civil, security and military use of drones and related technologies, including counter-drone solutions.
The Commission’s Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy has announced the preparation of an updated European Drone Strategy by the end of 2022. A staff working document accompanies an assessment of the challenges facing the drone industry, as well as the analysis and data that underlies the new Drone 2.0 strategy. This connection.
The Commission has been building the foundations of a comprehensive EU policy on drones since 2014. Commission Regulation 2019/947 and Commission Delegated Regulation 2019/945 contain detailed rules and procedures for the operation of unmanned aircraft, and set out requirements for the design and manufacture of unmanned aircraft systems. Since 2003, the European Union has invested nearly 980 million euros in the development or use of UAVs for innovative applications. It has funded 320 drone-related projects under its research and innovation programmes.