Unified set of drone rules for all EU countries

[electrotor]

This just in from the CAA :

Draft Commission Implementing Regulation for Unmanned Aircraft Operations
Proposals from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) for a unified set of drone rules for all EU countries gained a final adoption (approval) at the end of February. Although substantially revised it follows the general principles published by EASA in February 2018 in its Opinion 2018-02.  The Implementing Regulation (rules) is expected to be published in early summer 2019 and will become applicable 12 months later (June 2020).  Once the final regulation is published this summer we will provide details on UK adoption plans.

I anticipate a lot of people groaning about "here we go again - more rules". However there are a few things to bear in mind

UK CAA will determine what to adopt
Brexit deal is still an unknown
Model flying is a hobby which can and does affect non hobbyists rather more than say model railways/cars/boats
There have been substantial revisions due to the efforts of European model flying associations

[FPVSteve]

In the meantime, without the draconian regulations, we're still hovering nicely around the zero accidents mark.

I look forward to the improvement in safety that these rules bring to the hobby. Kudos all round.