Introductory text

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2018 on common rules in the field of civil aviation and establishing a European Union Aviation Safety Agency, and amending Regulations (EC) No 2111/2005, (EC) No 1008/2008, (EU) No 996/2010, (EU) No 376/2014 and Directives 2014/30/EU and 2014/53/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council, and repealing Regulations (EC) No 552/2004 and (EC) No 216/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Council Regulation (EEC) No 3922/91^f1, and in particular Article 58 and Article 61 thereof,

Whereas:

The unmanned aircraft systems (‘UAS’), the operation of which presents a low risk and for which the UAS operator is allowed to submit a declaration based on the standard scenario listed in Appendix 1 to the Annex to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/947^f2 should not be subject to standard aeronautical compliance procedures. The possibility to establish Union harmonisation legislation as referred to in paragraph 6 of Article 56 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 should be used for those UAS. Therefore, it is necessary to set out requirements that address the risks posed by the operation of those UAS, taking full account of other applicable Union harmonisation legislation. As a result, two new different classes of UAS should be created, characterised by different sets of requirements addressing different risks. Consequently, Chapter II of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/945^f3 should cover these new classes.

UAS to be used under standard scenarios defined in Appendix 1 to the Annex of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/947 should meet product requirements defined in Chapter II of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/945 and therefore should be removed from the scope of Chapter III.

Those requirements should comply with the essential requirements provided for in Article 55 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1139, in particular as regards the specific features and functionalities necessary to mitigate risks pertaining to the safety of the flight, privacy, and protection of personal data, security or the environment, arising from the operation of those UAS.

Where manufacturers place UAS on the market with the intention of making them available for operations under the rules and conditions applicable to the ‘open’ category or under an operational declaration and therefore affix a class identification label on it, they should ensure the compliance of the UAS with the requirements of that class. Equally, where manufacturers place on the market accessories kits transforming a class C3 UAS into a C5, they should ensure compliance of the UAS fitted with the accessories kits with all the requirements of class C5.

In order to support the remote identification as one of the necessary elements for the functioning of U-space system under development, all UAS operated in the specific category should be equipped with a remote identification system.

Those UAS operated in the specific category and that are not required to register in accordance with Article 14 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/947, should have a unique serial number, unless they are privately built.

The measures provided for in this Regulation are based on Opinion No 05/2019^f4 issued by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in accordance with Article 76(1) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1139.

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: