UAS - Unmanned Aircraft Systems
Strategy for unmanned aircraft systems in the European Union
On 9 February 2012, the Commission organised the fifth workshop of the UAS Panel Process aiming at preparing a Strategy for UAS in Europe. After a series of four workshops respectively dedicated to UAS industry and market, UAS insertion into air traffic and radio frequencies, safety of UAS and the societal dimension of the use of UAS for civil applications, this last workshop addressed the technology needs to develop UAS civil applications and their safe insertion into the airspace and Discussed the general research framework for UAS in Europe.
The workshop was prepared by the European Defence Agency and chaired by Ms. Claude-France Arnould, Chief Executive of the European Defence Agency. The workshop highlighted the existence in the EU of a large number of research initiatives related to the development of UAS platforms and derived civil application showing the high interest of MS and industry in this emerging sector. The workshop took then a closer look at the technology requirements to achieve a safe insertion of UAS into the airspace. The technology readiness levels of isolated technologies are high, the problem being mainly their integration into functioning systems meeting the safety requirements for their insertion into civil air traffic. The workshop indentified a clear need to progress on the development of the safety regulatory framework and to set-up at European level a plan combining both the research and regulatory aspects. It also identified areas where more R&D is needed to allow UAS to fly safely in non-segregated airspace. It concluded on the need to exploit the knowledge and progress already achieved in the defence sector when developing civil UAS.
The presentations and background papers are available on this website. Additional comments and inputs are welcome and can be sent to entr-uas@ec.europa.eu.
Military exploitation of UAS has grown exponentially in the recent year. However this trend has so far not been followed by the civil sector. Despite the huge industrial interest in the development of UAS technologies and the number of potential civil uses and commercial applications, a number of barriers have hindered the development of the civil market for UAS.
In October 2009, the Commission (DG MOVE) conducted a first hearing 
dedicated to unmanned aircraft. On 1 July 2010 the Commission and the European Defence Agency jointly organised a High-Level conference on unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). Around 450 participants from all over the world discussed issues such as; how UAS can support European policies, the different uses of UAS and institutional and infrastructure aspects which would allow UAS to fly in non-segregated airspace.
There is now a need to bring all these elements together, identify clearly the obstacles to a full exploitation of civil UAS and set the basis for a strategy to overcome them and develop civil UAS applications in Europe. To this end, the Commission launched, on 23 June 2011, at the Paris Air Show, a process which should provide the Commission with the necessary background to prepare a strategy paper for the future of UAS in European Union.
In order to collect the necessary expertise and input the Commission is calling for contributions from aviation rulemaking bodies, industries, civil society and other stakeholders on five distinct subjects:
- Economic importance of UAS,
- Insertion into non segregated airspace (including radio-frequency management),
- Safety related issues, airworthiness,
- Societal dimension,
- Research and Development.
Written contributions should be sent to the following e-mail address: entr-uas@ec.europa.eu. They will be published in the relevant sections of the website.
On the basis of these contributions, a Discussion Paper will be prepared for each of these five subjects and discussed during a workshop organised in Brussels according to the following schedule.
| Date of the Workshop | Subject | Content | Venue | Documents |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 July 2011 | UAS Industry and market |
Describe the economic importance and market opportunities for UAS. Identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to UAS development in Europe. | Eurocontrol |
Programme |
| 13/14 September 2011 | UAS insertion into airspace and radiofrequencies | Identify issues to be addressed to allow insertion into non-segregated airspace and required actions. This topic would also cover issues linked to standards, international rules and frequency management, and any other relevant issues. | Eurocontrol | |
| 19 October 2011 | Safety of UAS | Regulatory state of play, obstacles/gaps, international dimension, standards, licensing of pilots etc. | Eurocontrol |
Programme |
| 16 November 2011 | Societal dimension of UAS | Liability issues, privacy protection, protection of personal data, societal impacts, ethical concerns etc | Eurocontrol |
Programme |
| 9 February 2012 | Research and development for UAS | Mapping of current UAS research priorities, identification of technology gaps, mapping of innovation investment schemes including demonstrator programmes, EU level coordination, etc. | Ecole Royale Militaire |
Programme |
How to access documents in CIRCA? [2 MB]
In case you have a problem accessing CIRCABC please click here for the main documents.
Participation to the workshops is open to all contributors but limited to available places. A selection might have to be made by the Commission services, ensuring a balanced participation of the different contributors. Request for participation to a specific workshop may be made via the mailbox entr-uas@ec.europa.eu. Applications must be accompanied by a short written contribution.
At the end of this process, a Strategy Paper will be drafted by the European Commission.
In order to facilitate the gathering and the consolidation of existing information and increase the transparency of on-going activities, DG Enterprise and Industry set-up a public database on UAS. The information stored in the database is accessible through the "relevant information" link of each of the 5 topics in the table above. The full database is accessible through the CIRCABC interest group on UAS. Stakeholders are invited to contribute building-up the database. Any relevant public information can be sent to entr-uas@ec.europa.eu.
For further questions, please contact: entr-uas@ec.europa.eu.
Pictures of the events:
