European Commission Opens EU Aviation Strategy Consultation, And Drone Operators Have Until May 21 To Weigh In

Published: 2026-04-30T17:12:06-04:00 Author: Haye Kesteloo

Summary

The European Commission has opened public consultation on a new EU Aviation and Aeronautics Strategy, starting work on a framework that will replace the 2015 Aviation Strategy for Europe. The strategy prioritises large-scale unmanned aircraft deployment, anti-jamming and navigation technology research, GNSS interference resilience, drone incursions, and dual-use capabilities. The Commission's call for evidence frames the strategy around competitiveness, resilience, decarbonisation, strategic autonomy, and industrial leadership. These goals align with those of February's EU Drone and Counter-Drone Action Plan. The final decision on the proposed 100-gram registration threshold will depend on what the aviation strategy says. The consultation will also influence how EASA handles the Cx label revision and how Part-ORO management system requirements migrate into BVLOS operator guidance.

Story

European Commission Opens EU Aviation Strategy Consultation, And Drone Operators Have Until May 21 To Weigh In Photo credit: Air Photography Check out the Best Deals on Amazon for DJI Drones today! The European Commission opened public consultation on a new EU Aviation and Aeronautics Strategy on April 24, 2026, starting work on a framework that will replace the 2015 Aviation Strategy for Europe. Comments close May 21, 2026. For drone operators, the call for evidence matters more than the headline suggests. The strategy explicitly names large-scale unmanned aircraft deployment, anti-jamming and navigation technology research, GNSS interference resilience, drone incursions, and dual-use capabilities as priorities. That lines up with the policy direction Brussels signaled in February’s EU Drone and Counter-Drone Action Plan, which I covered when it buried a proposed 100-gram registration threshold inside counter-drone language. I have been writing about EU drone policy since the original Drone Strategy 2.0 published in late 2022. This consultation is the upstream document that will determine which fights in the drone file get refought through the rest of the decade. ## What The Consultation Actually Says About Drones The Commission’s call for evidence frames the strategy around competitiveness, resilience, decarbonisation, strategic autonomy, and industrial leadership. Most aviation press coverage is reading those words as airline and aerospace shorthand. They are not. Inside the strategy aims, the Commission specifies four items that map directly onto drone industry concerns. First, scaling up unmanned aircraft deployment by accelerating an enabling regulatory framework and supporting research in automation, navigation, and anti-jamming technologies. Second, raising aviation’s resilience to GNSS interference, drone incursions, the use of aircraft for irregular migration, and po