Commercial Use of Drones: Commercial Drones Facing Legal Turbulence: Towards a New Legal Framework in the EU

Recently, the market for the commercial use of drones has grown significantly as drones are a promising source for delivering innovative services. This article aims to summarize the European legal framework as well as outstanding legal questions and challenges for this new technology: the development of an international framework for the commercial use of drones and steps made in this respect in the EU as well as liability, insurance and the data protection issues in relation to drones. In the past months, the EU has given a new push to speed up the implementation of EU-wide rules since the need for an EU regulatory framework was becoming all the more pressing. To ensure the free circulation of drones and creating a level playing field within the EU, the new Regulation 2018/1139 has been adopted and will enter into force as from 1 January 2020 followed by the technical framework laid down in the Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/945 and the Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/947 which will both enter into force as from June 2020.