Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) are a recognised part of the EU’s Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy. The Drone Strategy 2.0, published in November 2022, forecast that the drone service market in Europe has the potential to reach €14.5 billion by 2030 and create 145,000 jobs.
Recognising this potential, the European Parliament Committee on Transport and Tourism wanted to understand the challenges, barriers and possible solutions to UAS integration in European airspace and in particular over populated areas. They were also interested in the extent to which the recently published Drone Strategy addresses these issues.
Our project team conducted a literature review into the challenges and barriers of UAS integration and considered both the risks in the air and on the ground. This was complemented by stakeholder engagement with senior EU and global industry and institutional representatives.
Research also considered good practices on UAS adoption from Member States and third countries and the challenges and synergies of civil and military integration.
Based on our research and stakeholder engagement we delivered an assessment of the Drone Strategy 2.0, identifying where it addressed these challenges and any potential gaps.
Based on this assessment, the project team were able to provide ten policy recommendations on how the EU may deliver the Drone Strategy 2.0, tackle the key issues of UAS airspace integration and ensure the ambitions of the strategy are met.
The policy recommendations identified in the report provide possible next steps for the European Parliament in addressing the key challenges which still need to be overcome for large scale drone integration within the EU.
Steer presented the results of the report to Members of the European Parliament in Brussels on the 19th July. This was followed by an active question and answer session on a number of the key issues raised by the report.
Read the study in full here.
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