RPAS regulation takes off in the EU – The Riga Declaration and the EASA Concept of Operations for Drones

Regulation of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS), commonly known as “drones”, received a boost in the EU after the issuance of the Riga Declaration, which laid down policy aims on RPAS regulation. A few days later, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) announced the Concept of Operations on Drones.

UK CAA releases report on regulation of suborbital flights

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) of the United Kingdom (UK) has released an extensive report on the regulation of suborbital flights, which forms part of the country's efforts to attract operations of suborbital vehicles to its territory.  The report contains a thorough analysis of the regulatory landscape and makes very interesting recommendations. Since spaceflight operations are expected to start in 2018, the report recommends that the short-term regulatory framework should be in place at least one year before.

CJEU: Non-discrimination on grounds of nationality and free movement of services apply also to air carriers licensed by EU Member States

The Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) ruled in its judgment of 18 March 2014 that an EU Member State (MS) may not deny access to its airspace to an air carrier licensed by another MS. Such denial violates Arts 18 and 56 of the Treaty of the Functioning of the EU, which lay down respectively the principle of non-discrimination on grounds of nationality between EU nationals and the freedom of such national to provide services across the EU (Case C-628/11).