DroneRules.eu is an awareness campaign tool that aims to inform and educate the drone user community and the general public how to fly legally in the different EU member states, and Norway and Switzerland. The project is co-financed by the European Commission under the COSME Programme.
The DroneRules.eu website was operated by a consortium composed of private commercial entities based in Belgium, France, Germany and United-Kingdom. If you want to know more about the members of the DroneRules.eu Consortium, click on “About” at the bottom of the page. The DroneRules.eu website is currently not being operated by the consortium as the contract with COSME has ended.
DroneRules.eu does not provide personalised legal advice. We do make recommendations and useful tips available on our website, but we cannot answer individual requests for clarification about EU or national legislation. However, we will point you to the relevant information and/or your national point of contact. You should always consult a suitable qualified professional if you need specific advice.
DroneRules.eu is not a regulatory authority. DroneRules.eu has no legal competence or authority to regulate drone activities. Consequently, DroneRules.eu does not comment on EU and national policies, nor does it deliver pilot licences, certificates or any other official document. However, we can point you to the relevant national and European authorities.
Unless it is not already part of the public domain, the content available on the DroneRules.eu website is the property of the EU. It can be used freely by any interested party that has received authorisation to do so.
Our website is composed of 3 layers of information respectively available in 22, 5 or 2 languages. The first layer includes a summary of the main rules applicable in all EU countries and is available in 22 languages (see “Your obligation” section). The second layer provides training material available in English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish (see “Resources” section). The third layer includes national information available in English and in the language of the concerned country (see “Regulations” section).
The entire content available on this website is produced by the DroneRules.eu Consortium and is based on its understanding of the current applicable regulations (i.e. national drone regulations, national data protection laws, the general data protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and the Regulation (EC) 785/2004 on insurance requirements). The information available in the section “Your obligations” is also based on a comparative study of the various explanatory material produced by the Civil Aviation Authority of Belgium (see here), France (see here), Ireland (see here), the Netherlands (see here), Switzerland (see here) and United Kingdom (see here).
Finally, the National Regulatory Profiles available in the section “Regulations” have been produced in cooperation with national stakeholders on the basis of a single template produced by the DroneRules.eu Consortium and circulated in January 2017.
The information on this website is compiled and provided by the DroneRules.eu Consortium, and shall only be considered as the DroneRules.eu teams’ understanding of the applicable law. Even though the information has been provided with great care to be as accurate as possible and to reflect regulatory frameworks applicable to drone operations in Europe at the time of producing the content, the information is provided with no warranty for correctness or completeness and cannot be formally considered as legally binding. As stipulated under national law, it is the ultimate responsibility of the drone operator and/or pilot to verify whether their operation is legal and authorised.
The first version of the website was released in July 2016. As more content is produced, the website is progressively being updated. The final updated version of the website is scheduled for release in October 2017.
In order to adapt to the fast-changing regulatory environment, the DroneRules.eu website architecture is based on a “layered approach” that is progressively implemented and regularly updated.
- the “news” section is updated every 2 weeks
- the “regulations” section and National Regulatory Profiles are updated once per month
- the “your obligation” and “resources” sections are updated annually since they include generic information.
Most of Civil Aviation Authorities have an e-mail address you can contact for further question. You can find these addresses here on our website.
The list of national drone associations existing in Europe is available here on our website.
Last updated : 4 March 2020
Last updated : 4 March 2020