In recent years, EASA has developed the foundations for a European set of rules for the operation of UAS. One of the main tasks of the responsible departments at the European Aviation Safety Agency is to continuously evaluate this framework on the basis of previous experience in the operation of unmanned aircraft systems and to develop it further in order to achieve the optimum balance between practicability and operational safety.
To ensure that the interests of the UAS/AAM industry are adequately taken into account, an intensive and structured exchange between the drone industry and European regulators is of crucial importance. A new body, the Drones Community Steering Group (D.CSTG), was created for this purpose and recently held its first formal meeting at EASA headquarters in Cologne. Deputy Chairman Oliver Lichtenstein attended the meeting as the representative of UAV DACH.
The D.CSTG is tasked with advising EASA on current and future regulatory projects. The committee is therefore of great importance in the design of rules and procedures that enable scalable, economically sustainable UAS operations and contribute to the establishment of an internationally competitive drone economy in Europe.
The D.CSTG is also intended to support the work of the EASA's UAS Technical Body (TeB). Through a structured discussion process, the position of the UAS/AAM industry on important topics such as the specific practical design of BVLOS operations, a more harmonized handling of the instrument of geographical areas within Europe or an expansion of the possibilities of drone operations in the “open” category can be integrated into the considerations of the regulatory authorities at an early stage.