What if your shopping were delivered by drones?
Known as Remotely Piloted Air Systems (RPAS) or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), drones have become increasingly present due to a sharp drop in production costs, as a consequence of recent innovations in light-weight materials, on-board computers, batteries and fuel tanks. Since their inception, drones have been developed for military purposes, with the inclusion of weapons in them, as well as for surveillance and policing efforts. Recently, however, other uses have proliferated, in the fields of climate data collection, scientific exploration, 3-D mapping, infrastructure maintenance, logistics and delivery services, professional photography and filmmaking, entertainment, wildlife protection and agriculture. The increasing diversity and affordability of drones will surely lead to their widespread use amongst corporations, governmental institutions and common citizens. Thus, the legal and ethical issues already associated with drones will most likely become more prominent and require the attention of European policy makers.
At a Glance
About this document
Publication type
Author
Policy area
Keyword
- AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY AND FISHERIES
- air and space transport
- air safety
- air transport
- aircraft
- criminal law
- cultivation of agricultural land
- cultivation techniques
- data protection
- defence
- delivery
- distributive trades
- drafting of EU law
- economic analysis
- economic consequence
- ECONOMICS
- EDUCATION AND COMMUNICATIONS
- EUROPEAN UNION
- European Union law
- illicit trade
- impact of information technology
- information and information processing
- information technology and data processing
- INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
- LAW
- military aircraft
- PRODUCTION, TECHNOLOGY AND RESEARCH
- protection of privacy
- remote sensing
- rights and freedoms
- technological change
- technology and technical regulations
- threat to national security
- TRADE
- trade policy
- TRANSPORT
- transport policy