LIBRe Foundation has started a new project integrating a line of studies dedicated to the international and national legal regimes on the unmanned aircraft, more commonly known as 'drones'.
The project aims to provide the public at large and policy makers involved in the development of national framework on unmanned aircraft with information and analysis on the current challenges and tendencies in the field. The analysis will aim to suggest guidelines for safe integration of the unmanned aircraft (UA) in the airspace, taking into account the evolving new markets and services.
The focus of our research is on the various institutes on international public and private air law and their applicability on the UA. The current Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) on air traffic safety at international level (ICAO) will be analysed, as well as the perspectives and legal issues related to the integration of drones in a non-segregated airspace, the regulation of security-critical service providers (e.g. geographical or meteorological information), the levels of autonomy and automatization and their impact on the liability regime, and the contractual responsibility of the parties implementing drone-facilitated activities.
The comparisons in our analysis will cover the existing legal frameworks in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, and the United States. Furthermore, analysis will include the ongoing reform in the EU framework on the air traffic under the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council on common rules in the field of civil aviation and establishing a European Union Aviation Safety Agency, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 216/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council. Special attention will be paid on the ‘Prototype’ Commission Regulation on Unmanned Aircraft Operations which was published by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency in 2016.
