As Deputy Head of the Cabinet of EU Transport Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas, Pierpaolo Settembri is responsible for aviation, among other things. Christine Berg, for her part, is Head of Unit Aviation Safety (MOVE.E.4) in the Directorate-General for Mobility & Transport of the European Commission and a key figure with regard to the equal integration of unmanned systems into the general airspace. As Principal Administrator, Jukka Savonen is an important figure when it comes to the activities of the EU Commission with regard to drones, artificial intelligence and digitalization.
At a face-to-face meeting at the headquarters of the EU Commission in Brussels, UAV DACH board members Dr. Gerald Wissel, Oliver Lichtenstein and Michael Wieland used the opportunity to emphasize to their counterparts Settembri, Berg and Savonen the urgent need for intensified European efforts to promote the UAS/AAM industry. In view of massive government support programs in China and the USA, the European Union can no longer afford to hesitate in this area. “Europe must now go all-in in the field of unmanned aviation so that the EU does not become strategically dependent on other regions of the world,” explained Dr. Gerald Wissel, CEO of UAV DACH, following the exchange of ideas. “The substantial support of the UAS/AAM industry must therefore become an integral part of European policy.” The UAV DACH representatives also made an urgent call for drone policy to be given significant consideration in the EU Commission's next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).
In addition to strategic prioritization and structural and financial support for unmanned aviation, the UAV DACH board members also addressed some of the other key demands of the UAS/AAM industry to European policymakers. For example, the swift, unbureaucratic and harmonized implementation of the relevant EU regulations in the member states, the technical visibility of all airspace participants and the digitalization of lower airspace. And, of course, the discussion also covered practical regulations for the designation and operation of U-space areas as well as options for BVLOS operations in regular operations.
There was a broad consensus among all those present that the involvement of the most important stakeholders is a key requirement for making Europe competitive with other regions of the world in the field of unmanned aviation. And that no more time should be wasted at this point.
Photo (from left to right): Michael Wieland, Christine Berg, Pierpaolo Settembri, Dr. Gerald Wissel