Delay to the applicability date of EU UAS Regulation –

Because of the ongoing disruption caused by the COVID19 outbreak, it has been decided that we will postpone the introduction of the new EU UAS Regulations within the UK by a period of at least four months.  As a result, any person involved in the operation of UAS within the UK will not be required to comply with the new requirements of Regulation (EU) 2019/947 (known as the Implementing Regulation – IR) before 1 November 2020.

Background to the delay

We are aware that the European Commission(EC) is also considering a postponement to the IR’s applicability date but the decision on this, and hence the final length of the delay period, is not likely to be made for a number of weeks yet.  We have taken the decision now so that we can provide a reasonable degree of certainty for you all, rather than continue to work towards the original 1 July applicability date and then change at the last minute.
 
It is quite possible that the EC may subsequently delay the applicability beyond 1 November, and we will notify you accordingly if this is the case.  Rest assured, however, that the date from which any person involved in the operation of UAS within the UK will need to comply with the IR will not be before 1 November 2020. 

CAP1789 update

Our guidance within CAP1789 (The EU UAS Regulation Package – Outline) is being updated to reflect this applicability date change, along with a number of other developments since its original publication, and will be published very shortly.  The relevant dates within CAP722B will also be changed appropriately, as will the relevant aspects of the CAA Scheme of Charges.

If you have any questions about these or any other UAS related subjects, please refer to the CAA website for further updates – CAA Unmanned Aircraft  webpages

 It is also recommended that UAS operators subscribe to the CAA Skywise service for further updates –  https://www.caa.co.uk/Our-work/CAA-SkyWise/

If you cannot find the answer via the resources above, you can email us on: [email protected]

Thank you and we wish you all well during this uncertain time. 

Regards

Sophie O’Sullivan
Head of Unmanned Aircraft Systems

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