Insights from Inline Policy
In recent years, the regulation of policy areas like privacy, genetically modified foods and pollution has shown that different countries can take wildly divergent approaches. The regulation of noise is a similarly subjective issue of great relevance to the emerging tech of electric vehicles and drones, in particular.
The many and varied ways in which drones have already been deployed to aid the public sector are often overlooked. Some of the most significant examples include emergency services, environmental monitoring and protection, and infrastructure maintenance and inspection.
Tighter drone regulation is on its way all acorss Europe, with EASA about to finalise its long-awaited blueprint. But some of the more difficult questions remain unanswered. And they are set to the define the industry for many years to come.
On 6 October, a new acronym was introduced to the world of aviation and climate change. CORSIA – the Carbon Offset and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation – is the outcome of what many in the aviation industry have described as an “historic agreement” to tackle the burgeoning problem of aviation emissions.
In our recent analysis piece about the future regulation of remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS), we provided some insight into the main EU institutions and agencies involved in the creation of harmonised rules across Europe. Since then, the 2016 deadline the European Commission had initially set for new regulations to be approved has been removed, and not replaced.
Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS), more commonly referred to as ‘civil drones’ or ‘unmanned aerial vehicles’ (UAVs), can perform tasks that manned systems are sometimes unable to perform. They can be useful for surveillance purposes, border control, agriculture, firefighting, or media and entertainment, amongst other applications. The EU and some of its Member States have in recent years acknowledged the benefits of this new technology. The latter have, in certain cases, introduced new regulations that enable the industry to flourish, whilst minimising potential issues that may arise within their territory.
