On 18 September 2026, EASA published Opinion No 06/2026. It proposes amendments to Regulations (EU) 2019/947 and 2019/945 to strengthen the security of drone operations, in response to the Commission action plan of 11 February 2026. The opinion is public. The amending regulations are not yet adopted: the EASA page shows official publication as pending, and it is the Commission that decides whether to take them up.
Where this text comes from
EASA was asked to propose measures that make illegal flights easier to identify. The draft was consulted through NPA 2026-103, with a workshop on 16 June 2026. This opinion covers only the security measures. Simplification will be a separate opinion, planned for the fourth quarter of 2026.
More than one hundred comments came in from national authorities, model-aircraft clubs, manufacturers, operators and air navigation service providers. On the 100 g threshold, EASA kept the proposal, because it reflects a requirement set by the security authorities behind the action plan, not a safety assessment carried out by the Agency itself.
Registration and identity verification
Today, in the open category, an operator registers if the drone weighs 250 g or more, or if it carries a sensor capable of capturing personal data. The opinion replaces both criteria with a single threshold: a take-off mass of 100 g or more.
Member States would have to verify the operator’s identity before completing registration. Standardisation inspections have shown uneven practice. How verification is done (digital identity, third-country operators) stays national; EASA may develop acceptable means of compliance to harmonise it.
Two consequences are easy to miss. Camera drones under 100 g, which must be registered today, would no longer have to be. EASA itself notes this as a privacy drawback, while pointing out that without remote identification that registration has little practical effect. Tethered UAS up to 1 kg stay exempt. In the specific category, every operator still registers, whatever the mass.
Direct Remote ID from 100 g
In the open category, every UAS of 100 g or more would have to carry an active Direct Remote ID function and use it. A UAS under 100 g does not need a class mark and is not subject to that duty, unless the manufacturer voluntarily affixes a class identification label: then direct identification becomes mandatory.
In the specific category, the duty would cover every UAS flying below 120 m above the surface, whatever its mass. A very light aircraft used beyond visual line of sight or over a long endurance would not escape identification.
Network remote identification is not accepted as an equivalent. It depends on connectivity and on a service provider. Direct Remote ID is a local broadcast, readable without infrastructure. That is the signal a passive detector such as the DECTYR RX-5 receives on site.
Privately built drones of 100 g or more are in scope. Comments asking to exclude them, including for research and prototypes, were not accepted.
Preventing take-off without an operator number
The February plan asked that a drone be unable to take off if the operator number has not been loaded. The opinion keeps that function, but places it on the UAS itself, not inside the remote-identification component. The consistency check is performed by that component; blocking take-off is a function of the aircraft.
The point is not only to catch an oversight. It supports the registration duty, now tied to a verified identity. Aircraft already placed on the market before the transition deadline would be exempt from this retrofit, which requires a major modification.
What the opinion does not keep
- Extending geo-awareness to every drone of 100 g or more. It was dropped: GNSS dependency, a disproportionate burden on model flying, and a reminder that the first duty is still to check the zones before flight.
- A standalone notion of “critical infrastructure” inside Regulation 2019/947. Protection of sensitive sites continues through UAS geographical zones under Article 15.
- A general duty for States to create zones. “May” is kept. A necessity and proportionality check is added for aviation safety, privacy and the environment, not for zones created on security grounds.
- An automatic exemption for model-aircraft clubs. The State may specify, in the club authorisation, whether Direct Remote ID applies to aircraft flown in that framework.
What a site should take from this now
Do not treat the opinion as law in force. The applicable rules remain the 250 g / C1–C6 pair, plus the French electronic conspicuity rule above 800 g.
Do prepare detection on two horizons. Once the text is adopted, new drones will broadcast more Direct Remote ID frames: the cooperative share of overflights will grow, and a multi-standard receiver will benefit without a hardware change. The fleet already sold, especially under 900 g, will stay weakly cooperative for a long time. Non-cooperative RF detection and, on exposed sites, radar, remain necessary.
The proposed delays are relative to the date of entry into force, not pinned to 2027. The retrofit detail is covered in the guide on drones already on the market.
Official source: EASA — Opinion No 06/2026, regular update of Regulations (EU) 2019/947 and 2019/945 (security), 18 September 2026
FAQ
Is the opinion already applicable?
No. EASA has published it and submitted it to the Commission. Until the amending regulations are adopted and in force, the current thresholds are the ones to apply.
Is the threshold “above 100 g” or “100 g or more”?
100 g or more. A UAS under 100 g in the open category is not subject to Direct Remote ID, unless it voluntarily carries a class identification label.
Will a camera mini-drone still have to be registered?
If it weighs under 100 g, the opinion would remove the camera-based registration duty. At 100 g or above, registration and Direct Remote ID would be required in the open category.
Is mobile-network Remote ID enough?
No, according to the opinion. Only direct, local broadcast is retained, because it depends neither on a network nor on an identification provider.
When will the threshold enter into force?
No calendar date is set. The lower registration threshold and identity verification could apply from entry into force. Retrofit of drones already sold is spread out: see the guide on the existing fleet.