Would Require Registration, Ability To Download Flight Data

The Transport Committee of the European Parliament has agreed to draft drone regulations that would make sweeping changes in how small unmanned aircraft are regulated on the continent.

Under the agreement reached last Thursday, drones that are classified as "dangerous" would have to be registered with the EU, according to a report from Reuters.

A "dangerous" drone would be defined as one that could cause significant harm to people by impacting them, or one that presents a risk to privacy, security or the environment.

More specifically, they would be aircraft that would have a kinetic energy of over 80 joules calculated using their mass and maximum speed.

The rules will be applied to both drones flown for commercial purposes and by hobbyists.

Drone rules currently are set by individual countries in the EU. Karima Delli, chair of the European Parliament’s Transport Committee, said that with the drone industry continuing to show rapid growth, "a European regulatory framework will prevail."

Lawmakers debated the regulations for about 10 hours before the deal was reached. They will been to be ratified by the full European Parliament.

(Image from file)

FMI: Original Report