On 20 June 2013, the European RPAS Roadmap was officially remitted by the European RPAS Steering Group to the European Commission in the GIFAS Chalet (GIFAS = Grouping of French Aerospace Manufacturers) at the Paris Air Show.
After a short welcome by a GIFAS representative, the opening speech was giving by Philippe Brunet (DG Enterprise & Industry). In his opening speech Mr Brunet explained the context, the start up of the European UAS Panel that was announced at that the Paris Air Show in 2011, and the subsequent establishment of the European RPAS Steering Group. Mr Brunet also stressed the positive influences the opening of the RPAS market would have on the European economy and in the field of job creation.
The European RPAS Steering Group is co-chaired by DG Enterprise & DG Mobility & Transport, consists of European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), EUROCONTROL, SESAR Joint Undertaking, European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC), Joint Authorities for Rulemaking on Unmanned Systems (JARUS), European Space Agency (ESA), European Defence Agency (EDA), EUROCAE, Association of European Research Establishments for Aeronautics (EREA), European Cockpit Association (ECA), Association of European Aerospace & Defence Manufacturers (ASD), UVS International. Representatives of most of these organizations were present.
Mr Brunet thanked the European RPAS Steering Group for their diligent work and efforts, which have resulted in the production of the European RPAS Roadmap. Mr Brunet then passed the word to Bernhard Gewert (CEO of EADS Cassidian), Rini Goos (EDA) and Peter van Blyenburgh (UVS International), who all made statements on the importance of the European RPAS Roadmap for the European RPAS community, and all three expressed the commitment of their organizations to contribute to the implementation of the roadmap.
Subsequently, the four documents, a high level document & 3 annexes, that constitute the European RPAS Roadmap were handed over, on behalf of the European RPAS Steering Group, by Peter van Blyenburgh and Bernhard Gerwert to Mattias Rute (DG Mobility & Transport) and Philippe Brunet.
The event was closed by a speech by Mattias Ruete, during which he explained the importance of the work at hand, as well as the spin-off potential for other aviation sectors. Mr Ruete also emphasized the commitment of DG Mobility & Transport and DH Enterprise & Industry, in close cooperation with each other, to progress the implementation of the roadmap.
The four documents that constitute the European RPAS Roadmap are now posted on www.uvs-info.com under the “European Matters” tab in the main menu bar.
To go directly to these documents, click here.