The last few years for consumer drones have been interesting, to say the least. The drone industry has exploded faster than governments were ready for, leading to half-baked laws, multiple governing bodies making laws for the same pilots and more.
Governments have been scrambling to create drone laws, taking the public and their interests into account. This included the EU, which put laws on the books, but is now revamping their systems. These changes can be confusing for pilots. Today we look at the EU’s drone laws and what the changes could mean for you.
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Expected EU drone laws
Here are the drone laws that the EU is considering. Most of these laws are currently in place in other countries around the world.
Maximum flight height
The first law that has been proposed is a maximum flight height. This drone law is in place as it keeps all the parties safe, aircraft and drones. The height limit should follow with other countries at 400ft.
Registration
Drone registration is currently required in America, it too has had a rocky history, and is still met with objection by pilots. The introduction of drone registration means many people may now be flying illegally or flying without the knowledge that registration is needed at all. Sadly, we’ve even seen some evil actors pop up, fake companies with registration scams to trick users out of their money, without even registering their drones.
We expect the EU to offer a similar registration system, with differing needs of hobby pilots than of commercial pilots.
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Flight restrictions
Most countries around the world have already implemented flight restrictions for safety purposes. The EU’s flight restrictions will likely be similar. Firstly, drones will not be able to fly within 1km of airports, government buildings, and any other highly secure facilities. A major flight restriction would be over private property and peoples houses, the EU will definitely add this one as a majority of people would not appreciate a drone to be flying over their house. There will also be flight restrictions added when major events are on.
DJI wants you to be ready
DJI released a statement on the matter, wanting people to get familiar with the changing drone laws. They explain that they support the new EU laws, making the case that the few irresponsible pilots out there that are giving drones a bad reputation need to be stopped. DJI believes these rules will do so without overly disrupting flights for the responsible pilots out there.
“Flying drones is fun and the vast majority of drone pilots, whether for pleasure or commercially, already fly safely and responsibly.” Says Christian Struwe, Head of Public Policy Europe at DJI. “These new laws will grant the appropriate authorities more power over a few bad actors and allow responsible users greater freedom.”
Live in the U.S.?
Don’t forget, if you plan to fly over U.S. soil, the FAA governs your flight. We won’t bombard you with the particulars, but we will make sure you know where to find the info. Here, of course:
Wrap up
The EU is heading in the right direction by making these subtle but important changes to their drone laws. Do you think more drone laws are needed? Let us know in the comments below or head to our social media accounts.
What’s next?
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