Certification Issues On UAVs: The Communication From The European Commission And The Italian Case

Introduction

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones and also referred to as remotely piloted aircrafts (RPAs), are increasingly taking up global airspace, a trend that is expected to increase exponentially in the following years. Therefore, opening the European market for UAVs, i.e. authorizing and regulating the civilian use of drones, is an important step towards the aviation market of the future. However, the European regulatory framework on the matter, while other global such as the US are taking the lead, building on expertise in the field of large military RPAS. Since the International Civil Aviation Organisation's (ICAO) standards require that States authorize UAVs in order for them to be able to fly, certification is a necessary preliminary step that should be looked at in order to allow the European aviation industry to be competitive at global level.