2.2 The EASA and drone regulations in Europe
Despite a move toward harmonisation, there is still variation across European states in terms of applicable laws. Moreover, a move toward flexibility and encouragement of self-regulation can emerge from a narrower definition of the issue needing regulation. For example, like the regulatory environment in Europe, the Australian regulatory environment in the early-to-mid 2020s for drones is still fairly narrowly defined to focus on aviation safety, which policy analysts argue can mean that other important issues, such as environmental concerns, privacy and security, are not addressed (Zenz, 2024). Nevertheless, while large parts of the regulatory environment governing civil drones are common across the EU, there are still policies specific to local and regional areas, and policies related to the individual Use Case environments. The next set of videos in the sections that follow are with two of the ICAERUS partners and illustrate the regulatory environments for rural logistics and livestock monitoring.