Drones: an opportunity for catalonia? Legal reflections and strategic proposals
| Autor | Marc Valls Estefanell |
| Cargo | Legal expert in drones and autonomous machines |
| Páginas | 87-105 |
DRONES: AN OPPORTUNITY FOR CATALONIA? LEGAL REFLECTIONS AND
STRATEGIC PROPOSALS*
Marc Valls Estefanell**
Summary
The growth of the drones sector is proving unstoppable and the economic possibilities of using drones are innite.
Although drones are piloted by remote control, they are deemed to be aircraft, and therefore the laws that apply to them
are the aircraft laws that each country has enacted in accordance with the Chicago Convention of 1944, the magna carta
of aviation law. In Spain, the Constitution reserves sovereignty of airspace for the Central Administration, and therefore
the autonomous communities do not have any regulatory capacity in this regard. Apart from analysing the legal situation
on the use of drones in Spain and in Europe, this article reects on the various scenarios for the construction of a Catalan
legal system to regulate drones within the framework of an independent Catalonia, either as a EU Member State or not.
We conclude with some future-oriented strategic ideas aimed at strengthening the Catalan drones sector and helping the
country become one of a world leader in this sector.
Key words: RPAS; public-service drones; Catalan drones sector; Mediterranean of the two poles; Barcelona city-
laboratory.
DRONS: UNA OPORTUNITAT PER A CATALUNYA? REFLEXIONS JURÍDIQUES I PROPOSTES
ESTRATÈGIQUES
Resum
El creixement del sector dels drons és imparable i les possibilitats econòmiques del seu ús són il·limitades. Els drons,
tot i ser pilotats per control remot, són aeronaus i per això la legislació que se’ls aplica és l’aeronàutica que cada país
ha desenvolupat d’acord amb la norma magna del dret aeronàutic que és el Conveni de Chicago de 1944. A Espanya,
la Constitució reserva la sobirania de l’espai aeri a l’Administració Central i, per tant, les comunitats autònomes no
tenen capacitat normativa al respecte. L’article, a part d’analitzar la situació legal de l’ús dels drons a Espanya i a
Europa, reexiona sobre els diferents escenaris de la construcció d’un règim jurídic català regulador dels drons en el
marc d’una Catalunya independent estat membre, o no, de la UE. Per nalitzar, es proposen algunes idees estratègiques
de futur per potenciar el sector català dels drons per tal que el país esdevingui un dels líders del sector a nivell mundial.
Paraules clau: RPAS; drons servidors públics; sector català dels drons; Mediterrània dels dos pols; Barcelona
ciutatlaboratori.
* This article is a translation of the original version in Catalan.
** Marc Valls Estefanell, legal expert in drones and autonomous machines. Partner, legal director and Director of Education and
Public Policy of Unblur. Campus Diagonal Nord, Building C6, c. Jordi Girona, 1-3, 08034 Barcelona, marcvallsestefanell@gmail.
com, @Vestefanell.
Article received 30.01.2017. Blind review: 27.02.2017, 02.03.2017 and 19.03.2017. Final version accepted: 29.05.2017.
Recommended citation:
Valls Estefanell
,
Marc
. “Drones: an opportunity for Catalonia? Legal reections and strategic
proposals”. Revista Catalana de Dret Públic, Issue 55 (December 2017), p. 113-131, DOI:
10.2436/rcdp.i55.2017.2927
.
Marc Valls Estefanell
Drones: an opportunity for Catalonia? Legal reections and strategic proposals
Revista Catalana de Dret Públic, Issue 55, 2017 114
Summary
1 Introduction
2 Concept and scope of action of drones
3 The legal regime of drones
3.1 Aviation law
3.2 Spanish legislation
3.2.1 AESA Circular of 6 April 2014 on the use of drones in Spain,
3.2.2 Current regulation (January 2017): Art. 50 of Law 18/2014 of 15 October approving urgent measures
for growth, competitiveness and efciency
3.2.3 Draft Royal Decree regulating the civil use of aircraft piloted by remote control (October 2016
version)
3.3 Future European regulations
3.4 And Catalonia?
4 Scenarios in the construction of a Catalan legal regime
4.1 Creation of aviation bodies and the incorporation of Catalonia into the International Civil Aviation
Organization
4.2 The development of a specic legal system for drones in Catalonia depending on whether or not the
country belongs to the EU
5 Strategic ideas and future-oriented proposals to strengthen the growth of the Catalan drones sector and help
Catalonia become a world leader in this eld
5.1 Strategic planning
5.2 The Mediterranean of the two poles: Catalonia – Israel
5.2.1 Israel, a leader in technology, cybersecurity and drones
5.2.2 Political afnity
5.2.3 Growing business and university relations between both countries
5.3 Barcelona city-laboratory
5.4 Alguaire Airport: the largest military-drone base in southern Europe
6 Conclusions
Bibliography
Webography
Marc Valls Estefanell
Drones: an opportunity for Catalonia? Legal reections and strategic proposals
Revista Catalana de Dret Públic, Issue 55, 2017 115
1 Introduction
Once again, we nd ourselves in a situation where technology is putting us to the test. This time, drones have
brought it about. The growth of the sector has been unstoppable and economic opportunities are innite.
Whatever the case, the proliferation of these devices is obliging states to regulate their use. So then, what
role can Catalonia play in the face of this scenario?
This is the question that this study will attempt to answer with the aim of setting what are basically three
objectives. The rst of these is to analyse the current legal regime for drones at both an international and
a European level, and to conduct a more in-depth study, especially in the case of Spain, so that we can see
whether Catalonia really can exercise regulatory powers in this sector or not. The second of these objectives
is to consider a number of scenarios in which an independent Catalonia might nd itself as it constructs a
Catalan legal system. The third and nal objective is to propose some strategic ideas for the future that can
strengthen the drones sector in Catalonia so that the country can become a world leader in the sector. These
ideas might be polemical and daring but they can act as a basis for a debate process about whether or not we
want drones to be an opportunity for our country to grow and develop, and to see what strategic decisions
we should take to bring this about.
2 Concept and scope of action of drones
A drone is an aircraft, either military or civil, that is piloted by remote control. We need to associate the
concept of drone with that of an aircraft insofar as the former is always linked to the latter. In short and as
we will see later, the assimilation of the drone-aircraft pairing is essential in order to understand how this
technology ts into law.
The word ‘drone’ comes from the sustained buzzing sound that the male bumblebee or drone makes as it
ies. However, in technical terms, drones are known by different names: Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV),
Unmanned Aerial System
(UAS) or Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS).
Drones, as aircraft, can take on all types of shapes, but there are essentially three main types: multirotors,
aeroplanes and helicopters. Within these three variants, the models are innite. Apart from shape, drones also
come in different sizes.
According to the Spanish Air Safety Agency (AESA), “an aircraft piloted by remote control
is
technically
considered to be a drone when it has a commercial or professional use. When the use of these aircraft
is exclusively for sporting or leisure purposes, they are considered to be model aeroplanes and they are
governed by the regulations for these”.1
Any private person who has acquired a device of these characteristics and who simply ies it as
a hobby must
be aware that this device is not legally considered to be a drone, even though it may be one in their minds,
but rather it is a model aeroplane, and as such, it is not subject to the regulations that we will analyse later.
However, if the device is used for professional and commercial purposes, it is automatically deemed to be a
drone. In short, how the aircraft is used will determine whether it is a drone or a model aeroplane.
The AESA indicates that “the activity of aeromodelling is regulated by the Royal Spanish Aeronautical
Federation, and
moreover, each autonomous community and each municipality can have its own regulations
on this sporting or leisure practice, although these regulations must always respect the general legislation on
aviation”.2
Drones look like futurist machines, but the rst drones were actually created a long time ago. Just like the
Internet and many other inventions, drones have a military origin. Essentially, they arose out of the need that
some armies had to carry out missions that would end up with crew members being captured or suffering an
enemy attack.
1 AESA Circular “El uso de los drones en España. ¿Qué es un dron?”.
2 AESA Circular “El uso de los drones en España. El uso de drones/aeromodelos por particulares para nes deportivos o de recreo”.
Marc Valls Estefanell
Drones: an opportunity for Catalonia? Legal reections and strategic proposals
Revista Catalana de Dret Públic, Issue 55, 2017 116
To nd the origins, if not the idea, of unmanned aircraft, we need to go back to the mid-19th century and the
Austrian army, which used unmanned hot-air aerostatic balloons to bomb Venice.3
The basket of these balloons would open when it was activated by a timer and then unleash its cargo of
explosives on a target on the ground.
Years later, drones were employed during the First and Second World Wars, the Gulf War, in Kosovo, Serbia,
Iraq and Afghanistan4 and they are currently being used in Syria, once again in Iraq, as well as Libya and
Yemen. Today, more than 60 countries use military drones. The main advantages of using these aircraft are
to: ensure the life of the pilot is not put at risk, to minimise one’s own causalities, to maximise those of the
enemy, to increase ight range and to reduce costs. Drones are primarily used in the military industry for two
things. Firstly, to gather intelligence. A clear example here is the famous Global Hawk, a gigantic US device
tted with extremely powerful cameras, radars that is capable of gathering all kinds of detailed information
about any target. The second function is to attack. What is the most-feared done of all? This is the Predator
B combat drone also known as the MQ9 Reaper, which is tted with hellre missiles. Notwithstanding these
examples, there is an increasing tendency for military technology to develop small. autonomous drones that
capable of going unnoticed, or even entering the interiors of buildings.
At an ethical and moral level, certain military uses of drones have come in for a lot of criticism, but there
have also been some legal doubts about whether or not attacks using armed drones can be considered war
crimes. In quantitative terms, the Obama Administration undoubtedly marked a before and after with regard
to the use of this technology. Most of these drones are piloted from distances of thousands of kilometres as if
they were part of a videogame. The aim is to dehumanise war and sell the notion that the greater the amount
of technology involved, the cleaner the war. However, and at a personal level, I believe that the debate should
not focus so much on technology per se, but rather on the uses that are made of this technology in certain
military actions.
Within the civil eld, drones can carry out a plethora of functions, and many more uses will arise in the
future, although these uses have already reached unimaginable levels today.
Today, agriculture is one of the industries where this technology is most used. Planning a selective harvest,
managing water and spraying insecticides represent some cases of drones being used in this industry.
Drones have established a strong foothold in sectors such as the audiovisual industry as their use makes it
possible to quickly and safely reach places of difcult access, at a low cost. Airplanes and, in particular,
helicopters, which had been the main actors used to capture aerial images up to now, have found themselves
pushed to the sidelines within this sector.
We also nd areas where drones are still at a testing phase, but where they will undoubtedly end up having a
very important use in our everyday lives. The emergency services are an excellent case in point. We are now
starting to see several re brigades, research and rescue teams and some police forces testing this technology
in some of the operations that they undertake. However, research missions are the area where we see the
greatest use of this technology, and here they will be essential for carrying out rescues in places where there
are as yet no drones capable of performing operations of such characteristics.
Inspections of drains and sewers, electric towers and buildings under construction, hobby-leisure uses,
providing
the entire planet with Wi-Fi (a Facebook-led project), detecting land mines, cleaning solar panels in
desert areas, scattering the ashes of deceased persons in places that are difcult to access, ghting mosquitos
and plagues are among the uses that we could mention from the many applications.
Just as with the use of drones in the military eld, drones for civil use are not controversy-free either as they
can easily undermine or breach fundamental rights such as the right to privacy, because most of them are
3
Baquero, Antonio; Planas, Carles. “Drones: l’última revolució militar”. El Periódico de Catalunya, Saturday 7 March 2015,
page 3.
4 Montoya, Roberto. La muerte por control remoto, Ediciones Akal, SA, pages 22 and 23.
Marc Valls Estefanell
Drones: an opportunity for Catalonia? Legal reections and strategic proposals
Revista Catalana de Dret Públic, Issue 55, 2017 117
tted with video cameras. Accordingly, in the EU, for example, drones are subject to the
data
protection laws
of the Member State in which the ight takes place.
3 The legal regime of drones
3.1 Aviation law
Since they are considered to be aircraft, the legislation regulating drones is aviation or aeronautical law, and
this legislation contains regulations of both a
public international and an internal nature. Let us start our
analysis of the legal system governing these aircraft from a global and international perspective in order to
see the scope of this technology and get a better understanding of what is happening at a European, Spanish
and Catalan level.
The Chicago Convention is the magna carta of aviation law.5 This Convention was passed in 1944 as the
Second World War drew to a close, and it was intended to harmonise and standardise international civil
aviation, and establish
standards for all the states that ratied it, thereby helping to avoid or prevent conicts
of any nature related to international ights (i.e. ights that y through the airspace of more than one country).
The body charged with overseeing the application and fullment of the Chicago Convention is the International
Civil Aviation Organization, (ICAO). Does this Convention regulate drones at a world level? The answer is
that it does not, but it does establish the bases that should be followed by any regulations of an aeronautic
nature, and drones, we should remember, are aircraft.
3.2 Spanish legislation
Before analysing Spanish aviation legislation and its corresponding specic drone laws, it is important to
clarify that this process starts with a regulatory analysis of the Spanish state rather than that of the EU, since
the European regulations are still at the draft stage and are a response to the many regulations on drones that
have been passed by Member States. This is the reason why the European regulations cannot be understood
without rst analysing several regulations of different Member States. We will now examine the case that we
are concerned with here, the Spanish one.
In Spain, the State Agency for Aviation Safety (AESA), which depends on the Ministry of Public Works and
Transport (Fomento), is the body responsible for ensuring civil aviation safety on Spanish territory, in other
words, the exercise of powers in matters related to the control of general air trafc in peacetime and the
upholding of civil aviation regulations for all aviation activity in Spain.
Going back to the drone-aircraft pairing, we should emphasise the three main pillars of Spanish aviation
legislation that apply to drones:
- Law 48/1960 on Air Navigation.6
- Law 21/2003 on Air Safety.7
- Royal Decree 552/2014 (Air Regulation).8
With regard to specic Spanish legislation for drones, there are three regulations that need to be taken into
consideration, and we will now discuss these below in chronological order:
5 Convention on International Civil Aviation.
6 Ley 48/1960, de 21 de julio, sobre Navegación Aérea.
7 Ley 21/2003, de 7 de julio, de Seguridad Aérea.
8 Real Decreto 552/2014, de 27 de junio, por el que se desarrolla el Reglamento del aire y disposicions operativas comunes para
los servicios y procedimientos de navegación aérea.
Marc Valls Estefanell
Drones: an opportunity for Catalonia? Legal reections and strategic proposals
Revista Catalana de Dret Públic, Issue 55, 2017 118
3.2.1 AESA Circular of 6 April 2014 on the use of drones in Spain
In the face of the ever-increasing use of drones, and in order to impose some order until such time as Spanish
regulations on drones had been drafted, on 6 April 2014, the AESA issued the very restrictive
AESA Circular on the use of drones in Spain,9 forbidding the use of these aircraft for commercial or
professional purposes:
“In Spain, the use of drones is not permitted for civil applications (for military use there are regulations that
allow them to be operated exclusively within a segregated airspace). In other words, it is not permitted, and
it never has been permitted, to use aircraft piloted by remote control for commercial or professional
purposes to carry out activities considered to be aerial works, such as photogrammetry, intelligent agriculture
(detecting specic plants on a farm or estate that may require intervention, such as watering, crop-spraying,
optimising crop-growing), graphic reports of all kinds, inspections of high-tension lines, railways, border
controls, detection of forest res, checking places affected by natural disasters in order to adequately focus
help, etc.”[my emphasis].
The legal argument behind this circular was based on articles 150 and 151 of the Air
Navigation Act 48/1960,
which species that carrying out a specialised task, such as aerial lming, surveillance, detection and/or
extinguishing of res, cartography, inspections, etc., requires the authorisation of the AESA and, given
the fact that there were no specic regulations at that time to regulate the use of drones, this organisation
understood that it could not issue these authorisations because it lacks a legal basis to do so.
3.2.2 Current regulation (January 2017): Art. 50 of Law 18/2014 of 15 October approving urgent
measures for growth, competitiveness and efciency
Because of the manner in which it was planned, and given the fact that the previous situation had become
unsustainable to the point that it was becoming a clear limiting factor for the practical development of this
new technology, the regulation was inadequate
and weak from a legal perspective, and on 5 July 2014 the
Council of Ministers passed a provisional regulation on the use of drones. This regulation is based on Article
50. Operation of civil aircraft piloted by remote control of section 6. Civil aircraft piloted by remote control
(Chapter I. Civil aviation,
Title II. Infrastructures and transport) of Royal Decree - Law 8/2014 of 4 July
approving urgent measures for growth, competitiveness and efciency.
“There is also an extraordinary and urgent need to establish this legal framework to strengthen the
competitiveness of the Spanish industry and put it on a par with that of other neighbouring States that
have already dealt with the regulation of the sector or which are in the process of doing so.
It is therefore extremely urgent to establish a legal framework that allows the operation of these aircraft
under conditions of safety, and to make sure they are controlled by the State Agency for Air Safety in
order to avoid security risks that might cause aviation accidents or incidents”. [the emphasis is mine].
This regulation was subsequently enacted into law and this process culminated on 17 October 2014 with
the publication of Law 18/2014 of 15 October approving urgent measures for growth, competitiveness and
efciency in the Ofcial Gazette of the Spanish Government (BOE).10
Before analysing the current regulations, it is interesting to take a look at what triggered the State to urgently
regulate the use of drones via a Royal Decree law. The reasons are set out in Section V of the preamble to
the aforementioned law:
“In recent years, scientic and technical advances have contributed to the progress of aviation, allowing the
appearance of new users of the airspace that receive various names such as drones, RPAs (Remotely
Piloted Aircraft) or UAVs (Unmanned Aerial
Vehicle).
These technological advances have also seen a considerable reduction in the cost of acquiring this type of
aircraft, allowing a proliferation of their use in an almost indiscriminate manner with the consequent
risks for air safety that this involves.
9 AESA Circular “El uso de los drones en España”.
10 Ley 18/2014, de 15 de octubre, de aprobación de medidas urgentes para el crecimiento, la competitividad y la eciència.
Marc Valls Estefanell
Drones: an opportunity for Catalonia? Legal reections and strategic proposals
Revista Catalana de Dret Públic, Issue 55, 2017 119
To guarantee a progressive transition to a high level of civil aviation safety, it is necessary
to establish the
specic legal system that applies to these aircraft and to the air activities they carry out.
These regulatory measures must reect the current state of the technique whilst simultaneously including the
needs of the industry of the sector and strengthening its uses.
[...]
The reasons for the extraordinary and urgent need to establish the legal framework applicable to the
operations of civil aircraft piloted by remote control stem from the need to create a legal framework under
conditions of safety that allows the development of a cutting-edge sector with a great capacity for
growth, especially bearing in mind that in the current economic
context, it is necessary to establish measures
that make it possible to diversify economic activity and strengthen industrial activity for the benet of the
economy and employment.” [my emphasis].
With regard to the content of the regulations - and analysed from a general perspective - these are structured
on the basis of three main pillars: types of drones, envisaged activities and pilots.
First of all, the regulations differentiate between drone types depending on their weight at the time of take-
off, and they are classied into three groups:
–
Those less than 2 kg
–
Those up to 25 kg
–
Those weighing more than 25 kg. Valid up to 150 kg, given the fact that drones above this weight
come under the competences of the European
Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).
Secondly, the envisaged activities that the regulations establish for drones are:
–
Research and development activities.
–
Aerial, plant-protection and other treatments that involve spraying substances on the ground or
into the atmosphere, including the spraying or pouring of products to extinguish res.
–
Observation and aerial surveillance including lming and forest re-surveillance.
–
Aerial advertising, radio and TV broadcasts, emergency, and search and rescue operations,.
–
Other special work.
Thirdly and lastly, the regulation s set out the requirements that pilots must meet:
–
They must be of legal age.
–
They must hold a pilot’s licence or else have a basic or advanced certicate for the piloting of
civil aircraft piloted by remote control that y within or beyond the visual range of the pilot,
respectively.
–
They must have a medical certicate that meets the technical requirements and administrative
procedures required for civil aviation ight personnel.
–
They must have a document showing that they have adequate knowledge of the aircraft, its
sys-
tems and how to pilot it, which must be issued by the operator or manufacturer of the aircraft or
an organisation authorised to do so.
And this is not all. In order to pilot drones for professional and commercial purposes, it is not sufcient to
have a pilot’s licence for these aircraft, but rather it is also necessary to register with the AESA as a drones
operator or else to work for an already-registered operator, and in all cases, pilots must also be covered by a
civil liability insurance policy.
Marc Valls Estefanell
Drones: an opportunity for Catalonia? Legal reections and strategic proposals
Revista Catalana de Dret Públic, Issue 55, 2017 120
There are several limitations on ying: drones cannot operate in urban areas, nor can they y over
agglomerations of people or y at night; neither can they operate in controlled airspace (this means they
cannot share airspace with aeroplanes and helicopters) nor y close to airports, aerodromes, etc.
3.2.3 Draft Royal Decree regulating the civil use of aircraft piloted by remote control (October 2016
version)
The draft Royal Decree regulating the civil use of aircraft piloted by remote control11 establishes the
denitive legal framework applicable to the civil use of aircraft piloted by remote control (RPA) that are not
subject to the regulations of the European Union.12 This decree is still awaiting approval. If its publication is
delayed for much longer, it might occur that the European
Union’s ever more powerful activity to produce
Europe-wide regulations on drones could end up leaving this Draft Royal Decree without effect. However,
it is interesting to highlight the fact that this regulation does take a more exible and permissive approach
compared to current regulations in that in some cases, and strictly complying to certain requirements, it
opens up the possibility of ying over urban areas and agglomerations of people, ying beyond the
visual
range of the pilot and ying at night, actions which are currently not allowed:
a) The visual line of sight of the pilot is increased in some cases. Therefore, according to section 2 of
Article 21. Conditions
on the use of airspace for specialised air operations by remotely piloted aircraft
that do not have an airworthiness certicate,:
“Moreover specialised air operations could be carried out in zones outside agglomerations of buildings
in cities, towns or inhabited places or open-air meetings of personas, in uncontrolled airspace and outside a
ight information zone (FIZ), beyond the visual line of sight of the pilot (BVLOS) and within direct reach
of the radio frequency from the remote piloting station that allows a command link and effective control:
By remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) whose maximum take-off mass is less than 2kg, pursuant to the
provisions of Article 23 (iii).4, paragraphs one and two of Royal Decree 552/2014 of 27 June.
By remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) that have systems approved by the State Air Safety Agency and which
allow the pilot to detect and avoid other users of the airspace. Otherwise, these ights beyond the visual
line of sight of the pilot (BVLOS) can only take place in airspace that has been segregated for this purpose.
For the approval of the systems referred to in the previous paragraph, the State Air Safety Agency will apply
the technical standards established for this purpose by the Agency itself or by the International Aviation Civil
Organization (IACO), or failing that, by the aviation authorities that it considers, or national or international
standardisation bodies of recognised prestige”. [the emphasis is mine].
b) Possibility of ying over cities, towns, inhabited places or open-air meetings of people provided that
certain requirements are complied with, such as making sure that the drones in question do not exceed
a maximum take-off mass of 10 kg. Pursuant to Article 21. Conditions for using airspace to carry out
specialised air operations by aircraft piloted by remote control which do not have an airworthiness
certicate, section 3:
“Specialised air operations can only take place over agglomerations of buildings in cities, towns or
inhabited places or open-air meetings of people, in uncontrolled airspace and outside of a ight information
zone (FIZ), using remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) whose maximum take-off mass does not exceed 10 kg,
within the visual line of sight of the pilot (VLOS), at a maximum horizontal distance of 100m from the
pilot, and at a maximum height above the ground of no more than 400 feet (120m) above the highest
obstacle situated within a radius of 600m from the aircraft.
These operations, must be carried out over designated zones on the surface where the authority that is
competent for this purpose has limited the passage of persons or vehicles or, otherwise by maintaining a
minimum horizontal safety distance
of 150m with regard to buildings or any other type of structures
and 50m with regard to any person, other than the staff of the operator or personnel involved in the
development of the operation”. [the emphasis is mine].
11 Real Decreto por el que se regula la utilización civil de las aeronaves pilotadas por control remoto.
12 Idem, page 2.
Marc Valls Estefanell
Drones: an opportunity for Catalonia? Legal reections and strategic proposals
Revista Catalana de Dret Públic, Issue 55, 2017 121
c) Possibility of ying at night. According to Article 25. Meteorological visual ight conditions:
“The operation of night ights shall require the express authorisation of the State Air Safety Agency,
following an application made by the operator accompanied by the safety study envisaged in the
aforementioned
Article 23 (iii) 2, letter a) of Royal Decree 552/2014 of 27 June. According to the provisions
of SERA.5005, letter c) 5) of the Annex of the SERA Regulations, in this authorisation the State Air Safety
Agency may establish the minimum height that corresponds to the operation
The maximum period to decide on an application for an authorisation to operate night ights will be six
months counting from the application, after which the application will be understood to have been rejected
in accordance with the provisions of the nineteenth additional provision of Law 21/2003 of 7 July”. [the
emphasis is mine].
3.3 Future European regulations
As far as the European panorama is concerned, in broad terms, we need to highlight the role of the European
Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), which is the body entrusted with the task of drafting the common rules
for European civil aviation and overseeing compliance with these through inspections in the corresponding
Member States. In mid-2015, EASA published the Advance Notice of Proposed Amendment 2015-10,
Introduction of a regulatory framework (A-NPA 2015-10) 13, a document commissioned by the European
Commission that contains a series of proposals about how future European regulations on drones should be.
At the present time, the main European problems regarding the regulation of drones are:
–
The lack of legal harmonisation on the use of drones, which means that a drone pilot or operator,
for example one certied in Spain, cannot operate in the other Member States of the Union, since
their titles would not be recognised there and they would not be registered as an operator.
–
The failure of Member States to establish inter-state operations in their corresponding
regulations
for drones, and the consequent unfeasibility of certain operations where the airspace of more than
one state is involved.
Support for drone technology from the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council of
the European Union was materialised at the start of March 2015 with the Riga Declaration, On Remotely Pi-
loted
Aircraft (drones) ‘Framing the future of aviation’,14 the principles of which are gathered in a document,
that we have already mentioned, the EASA document. These principles, which were established as the basic
pillars of a regulatory European framework are as follows:
–
Drones need to be treated as a new types of aircraft with proportionate rules based on the risk of
each operation that they carry out.
–
European regulations that ensure the safe provision of drone services should be developed.
–
Drone technology and standards must be developed to fully integrate them into
European air-
space.
–
Public acceptance is key to the growth of the sector.
–
Drone operators are responsible for their use.
Returning to the previously mentioned A-NPA 2015-10, the three basic ideas of the regulatory framework
proposed in this document are as follows:
–
All drones would be regulated by the European Union.
13 Advance Notice of Proposed Amendment 2015-10. Introduction of a regulatory framework for the operation of drones.
14 Riga Declaration on Remotely Piloted Aircraft (drones). ‘Framing the future of aviation’.
Marc Valls Estefanell
Drones: an opportunity for Catalonia? Legal reections and strategic proposals
Revista Catalana de Dret Públic, Issue 55, 2017 122
–
Drone types are no longer classied according to their weight as they are currently classied by
Member States and by the Spanish state, but rather they are classied on the basis of the risk
posed by the operations that each of them carries out.
–
Three categories (open, specic and certied), ranging from lesser to greater operational risk, are
established together with their corresponding requirements.
On 22 August 2016, EASA published the document ‘Prototype’ Commission Regulation on Unmanned
Aircraft Operations,15 which “represents the current views of the Agency, although as this document states,
it does not constitute any formal commitment on behalf of itself or the European Commission”. The future
regulations of the EU will be accompanied by the amendment of “Regulation (EC) No 216/2008 of the
European Parliament and of the Council of 20 February 2008 on common rules in the eld of civil aviation,
establishing a European Aviation Safety Agency, and this repeals Council Directive 91/670/EEC, Regulation
systems of any size (at present it only regulates drones weighing more than 150 kg with drones below this
weight coming under the competence of the Member States).
3.4 And Catalonia?
Given the regulatory panorama at an international, Spanish and European level, does Catalonia currently
have any powers with regard to the airspace above its territory, and consequently can it control the use of
drones in this space? The answer here is no. The reasons are as follows:
–
Chicago Convention. Article 1 of the magna carta in aviation matters states this very clearly.
Regarding sovereignty, the Convention establishes that the contracting states recognise that every
State has
full and exclusive sovereignty over the airspace above its territory. And as far as territory
is concerned, it states that the territory of a State shall be deemed to be the land areas and territorial
waters adjacent thereto under the sovereignty, suzerainty, protection or mandate of this State. What
conclusion can we reach then? Spain has full and exclusive sovereignty over the airspace situated
above its territory, and therefore, Catalonia, which is deemed to be Spanish territory, falls under the
sovereignty, protection and mandate of the Spanish state.
–
Spanish constitution. According to Article 149.20 of the Spanish Constitution (Title VIII. Territorial
Organisation of the State, Chapter Three – On the Autonomous Communities), which refers to the
matters that are the exclusive competence of the State, only the Spanish state has powers over the
control of airspace, general-purpose airports, air trafc and transport.
–
Law 48/1960 on Air Navigation. To round things off, Article 1 (Chapter one. General provisions.
On sovereignty over airspace, Aviation Laws and the general rules
for their application.) of this
law establishes that “the airspace situated over the Spanish territory and its territorial sea is subject
to the sovereignty of the Spanish state”.
Spanish airspace is therefore protected by both the Chicago Convention and by the Spanish Constitution, and
consequently by Law 48/1960 on Air Navigation. The result is a Catalonia that that cannot regulate drone
ights as it is not an independent state, a key factor for enjoying full and exclusive sovereignty over the
airspace situated above its territory.
However, and despite not being the subject of this study, it is interesting to point out that Article 139 of
the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia recognises the exclusive competence of the Catalan government
(Generalitat) in matters of industry, which could be the basis of its actions in the drones industry, without
prejudice to those aspects related to air navigation or defence, which are competences of the State.
15 Prototype’ Commission Regulation on Unmanned Aircraft Operations.
16 Reglamento (CE) nº 216/2008 del Parlamento Europeo y del Consejo, de 20 de febrero de 2008, sobre normas comunes en el
ámbito de la aviación civil y por el que se crea una Agencia Europea de Seguridad Aérea, y se deroga la Directiva 91/670/CEE del
Consejo, el Reglamento (CE) nº 1592/2002 y la Directiva 2004/36/CE.
Marc Valls Estefanell
Drones: an opportunity for Catalonia? Legal reections and strategic proposals
Revista Catalana de Dret Públic, Issue 55, 2017 123
Despite this situation, the Government of Catalonia (Generalitat), and more specically Catalonia Smart
Drones, the embryo of what wants to become the cluster for the Catalan industry in smart solutions with
drones, formed by companies, technological centres, universities and other agents that are driving this sector,
wants to monitor the regulations at both a state and an international level in order to see how it affects the
sector, and to participate, insofar as it is possible, in international institutions in order to be in a position to
inuence the most relevant decisions at a sector level.17 The position of the Catalan Government is very
clear regarding the current regulatory panorama, and it is because of the very limited framework of action
that Catalonia nds itself limited solely to monitoring regulations, and participating, whenever possible, in
international institutions.
4 Scenarios in the construction of a Catalan legal regime
4.1 Creation of aviation bodies and the incorporation of Catalonia into the International Civil Aviation
Organization
According to the White Paper on the National Transition of Catalonia 18drawn up by the Advisory Council
for the National Transition (CATN), referring to the administrative structures that the EU requires of all
States, “within the eld of air transport, Catalonia must create its own air navigation entity, which should be
integrated into the European air navigation network (it could be created from the already-existing control
centre in Barcelona), and a Catalan Aviation Safety Agency that would assume the competencies for aviation
safety in Catalan territory (it could incorporate AESA’s ight safety ofce in Sabadell to do this). It would
also be necessary to create a national supervisory authority to certify providers of air navigation services”.19
In summary, therefore, the CATN recommends the creation of three bodies for aviation matters:
–
An entity responsible for air navigation (the equivalent in Spain is ENAIRE).
–
A Catalan Aviation Safety Agency (the equivalent in Spain is AESA).
–
A National Supervisory Authority (depending on the matter concerned, the corresponding entity
in Spain would be the National Supervisory Authority (AESA), or the competent organ of the
Ministry of Defence).
Following the CATN guidelines and regarding integration into the international community, Catalonia
would have to join the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the specialist United Nations body.
Therefore, Catalonia would have to join the UN and thus form part of the main organs of that institution, and
it would “also access many of its specialised bodies through a unilateral act”,20 as is the case of the ICAO.
However, it is important to remember that it is possible to be a member of the UN without being a member
of the specialised organs and vice versa.21 Accordingly, it would not be necessary to join the United Nations
for this purpose. Despite being a completely atypical scenario, the CATN “insists that it is not convenient to
envisage entry into the UN in a quick or precipitated manner, despite its symbolic nature”.22
It is interesting to point out that the CATN, in referring to border control,23 recognises that control of the
airspace is the most complicated part of this task and that support should initially be sought to help implement
this, until such time as equipment has been specically provided.
17 More information at Catalonia Smart Drones.
18 Summary of the White Paper on the National Transition of Catalonia.
19 Summary of the White Paper on the National Transition of Catalonia, 2.2.2 Other administrative structures that the EU requires,
a) Rail transport, gas and electricity energy services and telecommunications. Transport policy, p. 75.
20 Summary of the White Paper on the National Transition of Catalonia, 3.6.3 Joining international inter-governmental organisations,
b) United Nations and its System, p. 127.
21 “Los organismos especializados de la Naciones Unidas. Naturaleza jurídica” in Juspedia.
22 Summary of the White Paper on the National Transition of Catalonia, 3.6.3 Joining international inter-governmental organisations,
b) United Nations and its System, cit. 22, p. 129.
23 Summary of the White Paper on the National Transition of Catalonia, 2.5.2 Options and actions within the eld of internal
Marc Valls Estefanell
Drones: an opportunity for Catalonia? Legal reections and strategic proposals
Revista Catalana de Dret Públic, Issue 55, 2017 124
4.2 The development of a specic legal system for drones in Catalonia depending on whether or
not the country belongs to the EU
In the case of an independent Catalonia, there are several possible scenarios for the development of a specic
legal system for drones and these would depend on whether the country is a EU Member State or not.
The rst scenario to bear in mind is one of Catalonia becoming an EU Member State, and in this case, it
would be difcult for the country to have its own drone laws as European legislation would most likely be
already in force in this regard and its application would be compulsory for all Member States.
The second envisaged scenario is that of Catalonia not becoming a Member State of the EU and in this case it
would have more freedom to develop its own specic drones legislation. A practical option would be to make
a law in the image and likeness of the European one and thus operate in the same way as the surrounding
countries. Another option to be taken into consideration is that of producing a more exible law than the
European one that allows greater freedom of action, thereby favouring a faster development of sector. In any
case, it would be important to ensure that the legal regulation of the sector is in line with the strategy that the
country has decided to adopt.
5 Strategic ideas and future-oriented proposals to strengthen the growth of the Catalan
drones sector and help Catalonia become a world leader in this eld
5.1 Strategic planning
If Catalonia wishes to adopt a strategy that can help it become a pioneering State and a country of reference
within the drones sector, Catalans will have to decide which eld they wish to commit to; the military
eld or the civil one. Very few states play in the rst division of this sector and those that do are indeed
true giants: United States of America, China, Israel, Turkey, France. All these countries are leaders in the
manufacture and sale of civil drones (China, France and USA) and/or military drones (USA, Israel, China,
Iran, Pakistan and Turkey), and Catalonia would nd it difcult to overshadow them. Accordingly, the key to
the hypothetical success of Catalonia within the drones sector lies with specialising in some specic matter
within one of these two areas.
Bearing in mind that Catalonia is a peaceful country with a high sense of solidarity, it would appear more
coherent to incline towards the civil eld. Accordingly, peaceful and caring are adjectives that would correspond
to a possible Catalonia that specialises in the development and manufacture of public-service drones. Indeed,
Catalonia can become a leading State at a world level in the development and commercialisation of drones
of this type, which are designed to serve society, oversee its integrity and security, and piloted by police,
re
brigades and medical emergency services on search and rescue missions, monitoring and controlling res,
road safety, terrorism and special operations, etc.
Denmark has been a pioneer in the adoption of a national drones strategy and it could be a model for Catalonia
to follow. The Danish government, through the Ministry of Higher Education and Science, together with the
Ministry of Transport and Construction, has adopted the Danish Drone Strategy through which it aspires to
become a pioneering State in Europe, with the development, research, and safe and stable use of drones on
Danish territory as its main objectives. Developers, operators, universities and municipalities constitute the
130 members that form part of this national strategy, which is moving Denmark towards becoming, at least,
a leader in the European drones sector.
At a business level, the corporation Singular Aircraft, is the company that is best adapted to the planned
strategy. This Catalan company has created the Flyox I drone, a hydroplane designed to carry out rescue and
re-ghting missions, which can y either on its own or piloted by remote control.
From a legal point of view, and bearing in mind that this point proposes the development and production
of public-service drones as a Catalan national strategy in order to become a leading country in the sector,
security, p. 90.
Marc Valls Estefanell
Drones: an opportunity for Catalonia? Legal reections and strategic proposals
Revista Catalana de Dret Públic, Issue 55, 2017 125
it is essential that the Catalan regulations establish certain exceptions that favour the emergency services,
which will be responsible for operating this type of aircraft for public purposes. Along these lines, Andorra,
and more specically ”Article 14. State RPAS” in its “Unmanned, Remotely-piloted Aircraft Regulations”
offer a good example. This article afrms that “State RPAS”, in other words, public-service drones, after
obtaining an administrative authorisation from the ministry with competences in civil aviation matters, can
enjoy certain exceptions such as ying over congested areas, ying beyond the pilot’s line of sight, ying at
night and sharing the airspace with other State aircraft.
We will now go on to propose three strategic ideas for the future aimed at strengthening the drones sector in
Catalonia so that the country can become one of the leaders of the sector at a world level. These ideas may
be polemical and daring but they must serve as a basis for starting a process of reection and debate about
whether or not we want drones to be an opportunity for growth and development for our country and, if
necessary, to decide what strategic decisions and public policies we should take to achieve this:
5.2 The Mediterranean of the two poles: Catalonia – Israel
If Catalonia, as a small country, is to become a world leader in the drones sector as described in the previous
point, it needs strategic allies who can allow it to compete with the large countries that currently lead the
sector. In this contest, we believe that an alliance between Catalonia and Israel is one possibility that could
be taken into consideration. This proposal is based on the points set out below:
5.2.1 Israel, a leader in technology, cybersecurity and drones
Occupying a smaller territory than Catalonia and with only half a million more inhabitants, Israel had put an
end to the technological monopoly of the famous Silicon Valley. The competition between the US and Israel
is such that Tel Aviv, the headquarters of this new world technological power, is now referred as Silicon Wadi.
But what is its secret? How is it that Israel, a country that has been at “war and subject to systematic terrorism
for decades” whilst still “maintaining the structures of a democracy”,24 has positioned itself at the head of the
technological avant-garde at a world level? This success is built on four pillars:25
- An academic system based on an educational model of technological knowledge and innovation,
aimed at making the country the world’s Number 1 in terms of the most engineers per capita
(working).
- A very strong connection between universities and companies, a fact that helps researchers to
commercially develop their ideas through technological transfer centres.
- A military culture that has been built up thanks to the permanent state of war in which
the Is rael has been im mersed for years. In this context, after the Israeli army’s engineers
hav e com pl ete d th eir m ili ta ry service, they are allowed to put the military technology that they have
created to civil use so that it can be commercialised.
- R&D and public-private investment: Israel is the world’s leading country in terms of R&D
investment as a percentage of GDP, and allocates 4.2% of its GDP to research and development.
Israeli leadership in technological issues is so powerful that in matters such as cybersecurity, Israel has
become a true point of reference. Construction work is currently under way on the so-called CyberSpark in
Beer Sheva, a group of twelve buildings that will form a technological park and which they hope will become
a world incubator in cybersecurity that any company in the world with problems in this area can recur to.26
What makes this project attractive is the fact that both the academic part and the business and military part,
24
Rahola, Pilar. Prou!, RBA Libros, SA, page 119.
25
Otto, Carlos. “
Los secretos de Silicon Wadi
”, La Vanguardia, Sunday 19 June 2016.
26 Emergui, Sal. “El ‘ciber oasis’ de Israel que blindará el mundo”, El Mundo, Monday 18 April 2016
.
Marc Valls Estefanell
Drones: an opportunity for Catalonia? Legal reections and strategic proposals
Revista Catalana de Dret Públic, Issue 55, 2017 126
all of which are focussed on cybersecurity, will be concentrated in this technological park in order to provide
services of the highest
quality.
Israel is also one of the world’s leading producers of military drones. According to the study Trends in
International Arms Transfers, 20142729 from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI),
Israel has also been the world’s largest supplier/exporter of drones since 1985.2830
5.2.2 Political afnity
We should remember that we are considering the hypothetic scenario of a State in its own right, and for
the time being, it would seem that apart from the Baltic and Nordic countries, Israel would be one of the
rst countries to recognise an independent Catalonia.29 What is the reason for this? This is because of the
almost four decades that Spain has been reluctant to in recognise Israel as a State, because of the improvable
diplomatic relations that the former has had with the latter, thanks to the good relationship that Israel has
with Catalan research groups30 and nally, as a result of the desire for freedom and the claim to the right to
self-determination shared by the two groups (the Jewish and the Catalan people).
5.2.3 Growing business and university relations between both countries
Today, more than 800 Catalan companies export to Israel, and turnover of these exports has increased
considerably in recent years, with an 8.4 % increase in 2015 compared to the previous year.31 The automobile
sector, chemical products and prepared foodstuffs account for the bulk of these exports.
However, cooperation between the two countries might be much more important than exports as the Israeli
market is small. In an interview for this article, Mar Pérez, executive director of the Catalonia Trade &
Investment - Action ofce in Tel Aviv said “Israel is not a market to sell in, but rather one to cooperate with”.
The current level of university collaboration is small but everything would seem to indicate that there is a
desire to increase it in the forthcoming years.32
5.3 Barcelona city-laboratory
At present, many companies are faced with the problem of not being able to test and put their products into
practice in urban environments before they launch them on the market (or if they are being able to do so, it is
in a very limited way). The reasons for this include the fact that it is not legal to do so in most places.
Faced with this scenario, Barcelona could make the most of this problem by becoming a “laboratory” for all
those companies that are interested in testing their products in an urban environment before commercialising
them. The orography of the city of Barcelona is excellent in this regard:
–
The urban area is very diversied. Barcelona is characterised by having streets of all kinds and
sizes. These range from narrow pedestrian-only streets (the Raval neighbourhood, the Gothic
Quarter, the Born area, Sarrià, Gràcia, the super-block of Poble Nou) to very busy streets (e.g. Gran
Via, Av. Diagonal, Av. Meridiana, Ronda Litoral, Ronda de Dalt), taking in those that are a mixture
of the other two (the majority of the city’s streets).
27 D. Wzeman
, Pieter;
Siemon T., Wezeman
. “
Trends in International Arms Transfers 2014
”, SIPRI Fact Sheet, March 2015,
page 3.
28
Arnett, George. “The numbers behind the worldwide trade in drones”, The Guardian, World news, Monday 16 March 2015.
29 Casulleras Nualart, Josep. Interview with Josep Maria Terricabras, philosopher and MEP for ERC who explains how the decisive
phase of the Catalan process is seen from Brussels, Vilaweb, Monday, 19 September 2016.
30 To provide an example, “El Govern posa en marxa el programa TWINS per promoure la col·laboració entre grups de recerca de
Catalunya i Israel”.
31 “Israel, anàlisi d’oportunitats”, ACCIÓ – Government of Catalonia (Generalitat), June 2016.
32 “El Govern posa en marxa el programa TWINS per promoure la col·laboració entre grups de recerca de Catalunya i Israel”, cit. 31.
Marc Valls Estefanell
Drones: an opportunity for Catalonia? Legal reections and strategic proposals
Revista Catalana de Dret Públic, Issue 55, 2017 127
–
Mountains. The city has a large mountainous area. Towards the sea, Collserola behind, and
Montjuïc to the right.
–
The sea. Barcelona has several Mediterranean beaches.
So then, there are three classes of remotely controlled or fully autonomous vehicles that could be used in
Barcelona: earth, air and aquatic vehicles. Indeed, all of these should be used on behalf of citizens and to
promote a sustainable city model. Indeed, “South Korea and Japan have now introduced legislation to create
‘free-trade zones’ where robots can be tested in real world settings without breaking the law, and without the
need for special permits from the local authorities”.33
Once again, Barcelona is becoming a centre of attraction for multinational companies as they seek to establish
their headquarters in the Catalan capital. Amazon and Tesla are perfect examples. On the one hand, Amazon
has made a strong commitment to the city, and in 2017 it will open southern Europe’s largest logistics
centre in El Prat de Llobregat.34 The most interesting case, however is the Amazon Prime Air35 project,
which is still in its infancy, whose main objective is to deliver parcels to the homes of private individuals
in record time using drones. On the other hand, Tesla, a company that designs, manufactures and sells
electric cars, has chosen Barcelona as the site for its Spanish headquarters.36 It is also interesting to highlight
Uber, “an international company that provides its customers with a private transport network through its
mobile application software, which puts passengers in contact with drivers”. This Silicon Valley company is
currently working on the development of autonomous or driverless cars and says it “believes that it will be
the future of urban transport and that it will be possible to cut costs by eliminating the need for a driver”.37
Indeed, along these lines, the Catalan Government (Generalitat), together with the industry and agents from
the sector, has designed the Catalonia Living Lab project, which will allow manufacturers from around the
world to carry out tests on roads, cities and circuits. “The aim is for manufacturers of vehicles and components
from this industry to be able to test their products in real driving environments, with full guarantees of safety.
The goal of this project is to contribute to the development and transformation of the Catalan car industry
and to attract new foreign investment projects that can take advantage of an suitable regulatory environment
to move their projects forward. These tests could be conducted on three circuits and seven routes totalling
about 200 kilometres, and seven open zones covering a surface area of more than 12 square kilometres”38.
In short, electric cars, autonomous vehicles, drones and many more technologies that will arrive in the future
could be tested in a city as internationally attractive as Barcelona.
5.4 Alguaire Airport: the largest military-drone base in southern Europe
This future proposal is valid for both those in favour and those against an independent Catalonia having an
army, irrespective of whether or not it ends up forming a part of the EU and/or NATO. If Catalonia does not
have its own army, Catalans will have to “buy” their security from the country’s allies. The compensation for
this security could be monetary or it could take the form of another type of compensation, and the airport of
Alguaire could play a role if the latter option is chosen.
Catalonia is situated in a key geostrategic zone. In practical terms, Europe lies to the north of the country,
the USA lies in a straight line to the west, and the Mediterranean is immediately to the east with the Middle
East a bit further on, while the Maghreb lies to the south, and beyond that we have the Sahel. Catalans need
33 Sánchez del Campo Redonet, Alejandro. Reexiones de un replicante legal. Los retos jurídicos de la robótica y las tecnologías
disruptivas, Editorial Aranzadi, SA, page 30
34 Rahola, Pilar. Prou!, RBA Libros, SA, p. 119.
35 Alegret, Xavier. “Por qué Amazon se instala ahora en Barcelona”, Economía Digital, December 2015
36 “Tesla se decanta por Barcelona para instalar su sede en España”, El Economista. Ecomotor, Monday 31 October 2016.
37 Hook, Leslie. “Uber lanza sus taxis autónomos en EEUU”, Economía Digital, Wednesday 21 September 2016.
38 Smart Catalonia “Catalunya serà un camp de proves únic a Europa per a vehicles autònoms i connectats”.
Marc Valls Estefanell
Drones: an opportunity for Catalonia? Legal reections and strategic proposals
Revista Catalana de Dret Públic, Issue 55, 2017 128
to make the most of this geostrategic advantage that the country enjoys, and one way of achieving this to
convert the airport of Alguaire into the largest military-drone base in the south of Europe.
We still do not know what allied countries this airport could work in favour of, but there are at least two
possible scenarios. The rst of these involves a Catalonia, with or without its own army, that is a Member
State of the EU. In this case, the proposal is very powerful in European terms and even more so if a European
army is created in the medium term. The EU army could conduct humanitarian missions or even intelligence
gathering missions or attacks from this airport as its location is extremely close, from a drone-distance
perspective, to failed states such as Libya that have been the focus of terrorism and human-trafcking maas.
The second scenario is that of a Catalonia that is neither a Member State of the EU nor one with an army, but
which establishes alliances with certain states to guarantee its security in exchange for exploiting military
drone technology at the airport of Alguaire. Iceland has adopted a similar strategy to this. Despite participating
in international missions in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo and being a founder member of NATO in 1949,
Iceland does not have an army of its own. In 1951, Iceland signed “an agreement according to which the USA
undertakes to defend the country and establish an important air base there. The agreement ended in 2006 and
since then NATO countries have provided it with combat personnel and airplanes to guarantee protection of
its airspace”.39 In June 2016 Iceland and the United States signed a new defence agreement.
Apart from incorporating Lleida into the map of European airports, these two options would be a way to
revive Alguaire airport and take advantage of its facilities. In any case, this proposal might be the perfect
basis for a possible National Security Strategy for Catalonia.
6 Conclusions
Catalonia has powers to regulate the drones industry but it cannot regulate drone ights because it is not
an independent State, and this is a key factor with regard to having full and exclusive sovereignty over the
airspace situated above its territory. At the present time, Spanish airspace is protected, legally speaking,
by both the Chicago Convention and the Spanish Constitution, and consequently by Law 48/1960 on Air
Navigation.
In summary, Catalonia will either have to end up becoming an independent State or it will not be able to
regulate the use of drones. In the case of an independent Catalonia, there are several possible scenarios when
it comes to developing the legal system on drones, and these depend on whether or not the country belongs
to the EU.
The rst scenario to be envisaged is one where Catalonia becomes an EU Member State. In this case, it
would be difcult for Catalonia to adopt its own drones legislation as European legislation on such matters
would probably be in force and it would be compulsorily applicable in all Member States.
The second envisaged scenario is one in which Catalonia does not join the EU, and in this case, it would have
greater freedom to develop its own specic legislation on drones. A practical option would be to produce a
law just like the European one, and in this way operate in the same way as neighbouring countries. Another
option would be to produce a more exible law than the European one, which allows greater freedom of
action, and therefore a more rapid development of the sector. In any event, it would be appropriate to have
the legal regulations of the sector aligned with the strategy that the country wishes to adopt so that it can take
advantage of the development opportunities that drones can offer.
If Catalonia wants to commit itself to the drones sector, it must decide on which area it wishes to choose,
either the civil one or the military one. There are only a few states in the rst division of this sector and
all of them are true giants, so it would be difcult for Catalans to overshadow them. Therefore, the key to
Catalonia’s hypothetical success in the drones sector lies with specialising in some specic matters within
one of these two areas. Bearing in mind that Catalonia is a country with peaceful roots and a highly caring
spirit, it would seem more coherent to opt for the civil eld. Peaceful and caring are therefore the adjectives
39 “Països sense exèrcit”, Defensa.Cat, Monday 29 August 2016.
Marc Valls Estefanell
Drones: an opportunity for Catalonia? Legal reections and strategic proposals
Revista Catalana de Dret Públic, Issue 55, 2017 129
that would dene a possible Catalonia that specialises in the development and manufacture of public-service
drones. In world terms, Catalonia could become a leading State in the development and commercialisation
of drones of this type, designed to serve society and oversee its security and integrity and piloted by police
forces, re brigades and medical emergency services in search and rescue missions, the monitoring and
control of res, road safety, terrorism and special operations, etc.
Establishing a strong technological alliance with Israel, making Barcelona a city-laboratory for drones and
other disruptive technologies, and turning Alguaire airport into the largest military-drone base in southern
Europe are three future-oriented strategic ideas that could strengthen the drones sector in Catalonia and help
it become a world leader in the sector. These ideas might be polemical and daring but they must be used
as a base to start a process of reection and debate about whether or not we want drones to represent an
opportunity for our country to grow and develop, and if applicable, to decide
what strategic decisions we should
take to make this become a reality.
Bibliography
Ballesteros Martín, Miguel Ángel. “En busca de una Estrategia de Seguridad Nacional”. Madrid: Ministry
of Defence, 2016.
Baquero, Antonio; Planas, Carles. “Drones: l’última revolució militar”. El Periódico de Catalunya. Barcelona:
Grupo Zeta, 7 March 2015, page 3.
Clotet, Jaume et al. “Política de defensa i Estat propi”. Barcelona: Editorial Base, 2017.
D. Wezeman, Pieter; Siemon T., Wezeman. “Trends in International Arms Transfers, 2014”. SIPRI Fact
Sheet [online]. Stockholm: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, March 2015. page 3. <https://
www.sipri.org/publications/2015/sipri-fact-sheets/trends-international-arms-transfers-2014> [Consulted: 15
October 2016].
Government of Catalonia (Generalitat), Department of the Presidency. “Llibre blanc de la Transició Nacional
de Catalunya. Síntesi” [online]. Barcelona: Government of Catalonia (Generalitat), September 2014. <http://
www.gencat.cat/eapc/revistes/RCDP/Documents_interes/RCDP_54/05_19Llibre_blanc_Sintesi.pdf> [Con-
sulted: 15 October 2016].
Montoya, Roberto. “Drones. La muerte por control remoto”. Madrid: Ediciones Akal, 2014, p. 22 i 23.
Pauner Chulv, Cristina. “El uso emergente de drones civiles en España. Estatuto jurídico e impacto en el
derecho a la protección de datos”. Revista de Derecho Político, No. 95 (2016) [online]. <http://revistas.uned.
es/index.php/derechopolitico/article/view/16233/13991> [Consulted: 15 October 2016].
Sánchez Del Campo Redonet, Alejandro. “Reexiones de un replicante legal. Los retos jurídicos de la
robótica y las tecnologías disruptivas”. Editorial Aranzadi, p. 30.
Sánchez Gómez, Rafael Emilio. “Sistemas aéreos no tripulados y espacio aéreo en Europa: una combinación
estratégica” [online]. Madrid: Spanish Institute of Strategic Studies, 2011. <http://www.ieee.es/Galerias/
chero/docs_marco/2011/DIEEEM14-2011_UAVyEA_Europa.CombinacionEstrategia_RESanchezGomez.
pdf> [Consulted: 15 October 2016].
Rahola, Pilar. “Prou!”. Barcelona: La Magrana-RBA Libros, p. 119.
Webography
ACCIÓ. “Israel, anàlisi d’oportunitats” [online]. Barcelona: Government of Catalonia (Generalitat), June
2016. <http://accio.gencat.cat/cat/binaris/Israel_tcm176-230077.pdf> [Consulted: 15 October 2016].
“Advance Notice of Proposed Amendment 2015-10, Introduction of a regulatory framework” [online].
<https:// www.easa.europa.eu/system/les/dfu/A-NPA%202015-10.pdf> [Consulted: 15 October 2016].
Marc Valls Estefanell
Drones: an opportunity for Catalonia? Legal reections and strategic proposals
Revista Catalana de Dret Públic, Issue 55, 2017 130
State Agency for Aviation Safety (AESA). <http://www.seguridadaerea.gob.es> [Consulted: 15 October
2016].
Alegret, Xavier. “Por qué Amazon se instala ahora en Barcelona”. Economía Digital [online]. Barcelona,
14 December 2015. <http://www.economiadigital.es/es/notices/2015/12/por-que-amazon-se-instala-ahora-
en-barcelona-80400.php> [Consulted: 15 October 2016].
Arnett, George. “The numbers behind the worldwide trade in drones”. The Guardian [online], London,
16 March 2015. <https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2015/mar/16/numbers-behind-worldwide-
trade-in-drones-uk-israel> [Consulted: 15 October 2016].
Casulleras Nualart,
Josep. Interview with Josep Maria Terricabras, philosopher and MEP representing
ERC, who explains how the decisive phase of the Catalan process for independence is viewed from
Brussels. Vilaweb [online], Barcelona, 19
September 2016. <http://www.vilaweb.cat/noticies/terricabras-
israel-podria-ser-dels-primers-a-reconeixer-una-catalunya-independent> [Consulted: 15 October 2016].
Catalonia Smart Drones: <http://cataloniadrones.cat> [Consulted: 15 October 2016].
AESA Circular. “El uso de drones en España” [online]. <http://www.ecestaticos.com/le/
fb4b6837af-
de026acdf41a1be1fd7f16/1397052934.pdf> [Consulted: 15 October 2016].
“Convention on International Civil Aviation” [online]. <https://www.icao.int/publications/pages/doc7300.
aspx> [Consulted: 15 October 2016].
CyberSpark. <http://cyberspark.org.il> [Consulted: 15 October 2016].
European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). <https://www.easa.europa.eu> [Consulted: 15 October 2016].
Emergui, Sal. “Israel’s ‘cyber oasis’ that will protect the world”. El Mundo [online], Monday 18 April 2016.
<http://www.elmundo.es/papel/futuro/2016/04/18/57110911ca4741e6728b458f.html> [Consulted: 15 Octo-
ber 2016].
Government of Catalonia (Generalitat), Press room. “El Govern posa en marxa el programa TWINS per
promoure la col·laboració entre grups de recerca de Catalunya i Israel” [online]. Barcelona: Government of
Catalonia (Generalitat), 12 June 2014. <http://premsa.gencat.cat/pres_fsvp/AppJava/notapremsavw/272114/
ca/govern-posa-marxa-programa-twins-promoure-collaboracio-grups-recerca-catalunya-israel.do>
[Consulted: 15 October 2016].
Government of Catalonia (Generalitat), Smart Catalonia. “Catalunya serà un camp de proves únic a Europa
per a vehicles autònoms i connectats” [online]. Barcelona: Government of Catalonia (Generalitat), 15
May 2017 <http://smartcatalonia. gencat.cat/ca/detalls/noticia/catalunya_camp_proves_vehicle_autonom_
connectat> [Consulted: 15 May 2017].
Government of Denmark. “Danish Drone Strategy” [online]. Copenhagen: Govern de Dinamarca, octubre
2016. <http://ufm.dk/en/publications/2016/les/danish-drone-strategy-2016.pdf> [Consulted: 15 October
2016].
Hook, Leslie. “Uber lanza sus taxis autónomos en EEUU”. Economía Digital [online], Wednesday 21 September
2016. <http://www.expansion.com/economia-digital/companias/2016/09/21/57e145f922601d41198b4606.
html> [Consulted: 15 October 2016].
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). <http://www.icao.int> [Consulted: 15 October 2016].
“Ley 18/2014, de 15 de octubre, de aprobación de medidas urgentes para el crecimiento, la competitividad y la
eciència” [online]. <https://www.boe.es/boe/dias/2014/10/17/pdfs/BOE-A-2014-10517.pdf> [Consulted:
15 October 2016].
“Ley 21/2003, de 7 de julio, de Seguridad Aérea” [online]. <https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.
php?id=BOE-A-2003-13616> [Consulted: 15 October 2016].
Marc Valls Estefanell
Drones: an opportunity for Catalonia? Legal reections and strategic proposals
Revista Catalana de Dret Públic, Issue 55, 2017 131
“Tesla se decanta por Barcelona para instalar su sede en España”. El Economista, Ecomotor [online], 31
October 2016. <http://www.eleconomista.es/ecomotor/motor/noticias/7927839/10/16/Tesla-se-decanta-
por-Barcelona-para-instalar-su-sede-.html> [Consulted: 10 November 2016].
“Ley 48/1960, de 21 de julio, sobre Navegación Aérea” [online]. <https://www.boe.es/boe/dias/1960/07/23/
pdfs/A10291-10299.pdf> [Consulted: 15 October 2016].
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). <http://www.nato.int> [Consulted: 15 October 2016].
Otto, Carlos. “Los secretos de Silicon Wadi”. La Vanguardia [online], Sunday 19 June 2016. <http:// www.
lavanguardia.com/tecnologia/20160618/402597185310/israel-emprendedores-startups-silicon-wadi.html>
[Consulted: 15 October 2016].
“‘Prototype’ Commission Regulation on Unmanned Aircraft Operations” [online]. <https://www.easa.
europa.eu/system/les/dfu/UAS%20Prototype%20Regulation%20nal.pdf> [Consulted: 15 October 2016].
“Reglamento (CE) nº 216/2008 del Parlamento Europeo y del Consejo, de 20 de febrero de 2008, sobre
normas comunes en el ámbito de la aviación civil y por el que se crea una Agencia Europea de Seguridad
Aérea, y se deroga la Directiva 91/670/CEE del Consejo, el Reglamento (CE) nº 1592/2002 y la Directiva
2004/36/CE” [online]. <https://www.boe.es/doue/2008/079/L00001-00049.pdf> [Consulted: 15 October
2016].
“Real Decreto 552/2014, de 27 de junio, por el que se desarrolla el Reglamento del aire y disposiciones
operativas comunes para los servicios y procedimientos de navegación aérea y se modica el Real Decreto
57/2002, de 18 de enero, por el que se aprueba el Reglamento de Circulación Aérea” [online]. <https://www.
boe.es/boe/dias/2014/07/01/pdfs/BOE-A-2014-6856.pdf> [Consulted: 15 October 2016].
“Proyecto de Real Decreto por el que se regula la utilización civil de las aeronaves pilotadas por control
remoto”
(version October 2016) [online]. <http://fomento.es/NR/rdonlyres/63ECAE3A-B29E-45A7-A885-
D314153883EE/139826/RDRPAS27102016.pdf> [Consulted: 15 October 2016].
“Riga Declaration on Remotely Piloted Aircraft (drones) ‘Framing the future of aviation’” [online]. <http://
ec.europa.eu/transport/sites/transport/files/modes/air/news/doc/2015-03-06-drones/2015-03-06-riga-
declaration-drones.pdf> [Consulted: 15 October 2016].
Vilanova, Pere. “
Els ‘drones’ i la teoria de la ‘guerra neta”
. El Periódico de Catalunya [online]. Barcelona,
7 March
2015. <http://www.elperiodico.cat/ca/noticias/opinio/els-drones-teoria-guerra-neta-3996178>
[Consulted: 15 October 2016].
