site.btaParliament Bans in Principle Operating Drones without Permit in Restricted Areas

Voting in principle on Thursday, Parliament adopted unanimously, with 137 votes in favour, two bills amending the Civil Aviation Act of the Council of Ministers (MoM). 

The changes proposed by the Council of Ministers designate the areas of airspace where aviation can be restricted. Under the proposal those that are temporary will be designated by the Minister of Transport in consultation with the Minister of Defence. The Council of Ministers will designate areas which are restricted permanently or long-term.

A ban is introduced on the operation of unmanned aircraft in geographical areas in which their operation is restricted or prohibited. In such cases drones should be forced to land or enforcement measures should be applied to remove them. The procedure for the forced landing of drones and the application of compulsory measures for their removal will be determined by a regulation of the Council of Ministers on the proposal of the Minister of Defence, the Minister of Transport and Communications, the Minister of the Interior, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Chairman of the State Agency for National Security.

A separate provision of the bill provides that the Minister of Transport, the Minister of the Interior, the Minister of Defence and the Minister of Health, in coordination with the chairmen of the State Agency for National Security, the State Agency for Intelligence, the State Agency for Technical Operations and the head of the National Security Service, shall establish by regulation the conditions and procedures for the coordination of flights with state unmanned aerial vehicles undertaken in the public interest by authorities involved in, defence, national security combating crime and preserving public order, ensuring fire safety and protection in case of fires, disasters and emergencies, as well as for the needs of emergency medical care.

An amendment to the Penal Code is also proposed, criminalizing the operation of an unmanned aircraft without a permit.

The bill also provides for the appointment of air carriers to be made by order of the Minister of Transport and Communications.

It shall be possible for airport users or representatives or associations of airport users to lodge appeals against a decision of an airport operator to set airport charges. 

By a vote of 31-31 and 74 abstentions, MPs rejected a bill by Bozhidar Bozhanov from the parliamentary group Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria.

The rejected bill by Bozhidar Bozhanov aimed to create the necessary legal framework at the statutory level to delegate specific actions against the unlawful use of drones around airports and other strategic sites for national security.