FAQ - European Drone School

Until 31 December 2020, each EU Member State applied its own national regulations. In order to operate abroad, an operator therefore had to comply with local rules, which made it very difficult to do so.

In order to promote the development of the UAS sector in Europe, the European Commission has developed two regulations to harmonise practices, thus facilitating operations in the EU.

Since 31 December 2020, the European regulation on UAS is directly applicable in all EU Member States, as well as in Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

A UAS operator or a remote pilot who meets the conditions laid down in the European regulation can therefore now operate - under certain conditions - in his country of origin, but also in all other Member States thanks to the certificates (registration, pilot, operator) obtained in his country of origin.

EASA (European Union Aviation Safety Agency) has published a document entitled "Easy access rules" for UAS. This document gathers all the rules and procedures imposed by regulation 2019/947, as well as the AMC/GM for operations with UAS and regulation 2019/945 for the technical requirements of UAS.

> The Operator is the entity legally responsible for an operation. An Operator can be a company, or an individual.

> The Pilot is the person holding the remote controller in his hands. Obviously, the Pilot is always an individual. A Pilot can also be an Operator.

As an operator, you must register with the national aviation authority of the EU country in which you reside. You must only register once, regardless of the number of UAS you have in service in the Open or Specific category.

However, you do not need to register if your UAS:
• weighs less than 250g and is not equipped with a camera or other sensor capable of capturing personal data; even if equipped with a camera or other sensor
• your UAS weighs less than 250g, and is considered a toy (which means that its documentation demonstrates compliance with the Toys Directive 2009/48/EC)

In principle not, as registration is mandatory in all cases only for operators. However, if your operations require the use of a certified UAS (by EASA according to defined technical specifications), then you must also register each certified UAS you use.

UAS stands for Unmanned Aircraft System, it is the legal name for a drone.
UAV means Unmanned Aircraft Vehicle.

As soon as you are registered as a UAS operator, you will receive a registration number which you must affix to all your UAS in a visible and legible manner when the UAS is on the ground. This can be written directly by hand with an indelible marker or by a label, or even a QR code. Whichever way you use, make sure that your registration number is always clearly visible and readable.

If your registration number is too large to be affixed to the UAS, it can be written on the battery compartment, provided it is easily accessible.

The UAS geographical areas are areas over which UAS are not allowed to fly, can only fly under certain conditions, or for which a prior flight authorisation is required.

Their purpose is to ensure the security of airports and other airfields, but also to protect certain sensitive sites against possible intrusions by UAS such as prisons, nuclear sites, royal estates, etc.

For reasons of security, safety, privacy or environmental protection, you must first analyse the operational environment and the geographical area in which your operations will take place, and take into account the access conditions relating to the geographical areas.

A uninvolved person is a person that is not involved in the operation of UAS or who is not aware of the instructions and safety precautions issued by the UAS Operator.

Examples of uninvolved persons : spectators gathered for sports activities, concerts or other mass events; people on a beach, in a park or on the streets; etc.

An uninvolved person is not only a person who is directly exposed to a UAS, but can also be a person in a bus, car, etc. who is indirectly exposed.
For example, if a UAS flies over a car, its driver should be considered an "uninvolved person" because the UAS flying near a car could distract the driver and cause an accident.

A person walking by is considered as an uninvolved person (see definition above). You must therefore ensure that you comply with the operating conditions applicable to the category or sub-category in which you are operating (for example, OPEN A2).  

In order to avoid being distracted by the arrival or presence of passers-by during the execution of the flight, it is advisable to mark out your flight perimeter with traffic cones to keep your flight area under control. You can also wear a fluorescent waistcoat and inform uninvolved people that an operation is in progress, or have an assistant doing that for you.

Night flights are permitted in the Open category if these operations meet all the conditions defined for this category. In particular, it is mandatory that the operations can be carried out visually (VLOS): you must therefore always be able to clearly distinguish your UAS, even at night; the UAS must be equipped with a light to ensure the visibility of the UAS in the sky (a flashing green light will be mandatory); the flight environment must be such that visual flight can be maintained throughout the operation.

It is possible to fly in town if you operate in the Open category. However, you should be particularly aware of your surroundings, especially people in the vicinity of the operation, and respect the minimum distance to people or buildings required by the regulations.

Additional conditions may also be imposed in UAS geographical areas (Geozones). Before flying in a city, you should check whether a Geozone exists and strictly observe the conditions.