How the layers fit together
EU rules, or national rules?
Two layers of law apply to every flight. Confusing the two is where most bad drone advice starts — and it is why the answer to a simple question changes at the border.
The two layers
Regulations (EU) 2019/947 and 2019/945 set the operating rules and the product standards for the whole zone. They are why an A2 certificate from Ireland is valid in Portugal, and why the 120 m ceiling does not change when you cross a border.
But the regulations deliberately leave room for national decisions. Each state defines its own geographical zones — where you cannot fly, or can only fly with clearance — sets its own registration fee, decides its own insurance rule below 20 kg, and enforces with its own penalties. That national layer is what our country pages document.
Almost every piece of confusing drone advice you will read online comes from mixing the layers up: quoting a German fine as if it were European, or a Spanish airport distance as if it applied in Greece. When someone states a number without naming a country, treat it as wrong until proven otherwise.
You register as an operator — not the drone. Registration is required from 250 g, or below 250 g if the drone can transfer more than 80 J of energy, or if it carries a sensor able to capture personal data. CE-marked toys are exempt. Put your operator number on every drone you fly and set it in Remote ID.
One registration covers the whole EU/EEA. Register in the country where you live. Operators from outside the EU/EEA register in the first country they intend to fly in.
What never changes inside the system
These hold in all 30 EU and EEA countries covered here. If a source tells you one of them varies by country, the source is wrong.
- The category structure. Open, Specific and Certified, with A1, A2 and A3 inside Open. The same everywhere.
- 120 metres above ground level as the Open-category ceiling. Not 100, not 150.
- Visual line of sight at all times in Open, day or night.
- C0–C6 class marks, mandatory on new models since 1 January 2024. A drone without one flies in A1 only if it is under 250 g, or in A3 under 25 kg.
- Night flying is allowed in Open, with a flashing green light on class-marked drones.
- One operator registration for the whole EU/EEA. You register once, where you live.
- Insurance is only mandated by EU law above 20 kg. Below that it is a national question.
The four things that actually differ
Everything else on a country page is one of these four. They are the reason country pages exist at all.
1. What registration costs
Registration is free in only 8 of 38 countries here: Spain, France, Portugal, Poland, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Montenegro, North Macedonia. Everywhere else there is a fee, and the fees are not close to each other. The registration page lists every one, side by side.
The practical consequence is small — you pay it once, in your own country — but it catches out people who assume a free system because their neighbour has one.
2. How long the registration lasts
This is the difference nobody expects. A single question, «how long is my operator registration valid?», gets 18 different answers across 38 countries:
| Answer | Countries |
|---|---|
| Three years | 6 |
| Not published | 6 |
| Ongoing | 5 |
| Valid 5 years | 2 |
| One year | 2 |
| Valid 2 years | 2 |
| Annual renewal | 2 |
| One year, renewed annually | 2 |
| Operator ID renews annually, Flyer ID lasts 5 years | 1 |
| Annual — the subscription must be renewed each year | 1 |
| No expiry published | 1 |
| Renewal required, period not published | 1 |
| Until you deregister — but the annual fee keeps running | 1 |
| Choose 1, 3 or 5 years | 1 |
| Indefinite — register once | 1 |
| 30 months | 1 |
| No renewal period published | 1 |
| Renew every 3 years | 1 |
If you registered abroad years ago and have not flown since, check that the number is still live before you travel on it.
3. Whether you need insurance
EU law requires third-party liability cover above 20 kg. Below that, we have confirmed a national requirement in 24 countries: United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Greece, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Denmark, Norway, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Slovakia, Luxembourg, Malta, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia. The scope is not uniform: it may apply to every flight, only above a national weight threshold, only in A2/A3, or only to commercial work.
In 2 countries — Turkey and Albania — the published material does not let us confirm either a clean exemption or a precise duty. Their country pages state that uncertainty instead of guessing.
4. Where the geographical zones are
This is the one that will actually stop your flight, and it is entirely national. There is no European minimum distance from an airport — no 5 km rule, no 8 km rule, nothing that applies across the zone. Each state publishes its own map or app, and they disagree with each other about the same kind of place.
Cities, national parks, historic sites, harbours and border strips are all treated differently from one country to the next. How the zone system works explains the mechanism; where you cannot fly goes place type by place type.
And one that is not a difference: the fine
Penalties are national too, but there is a further problem: most states do not publish a drone-specific tariff at all, so the figures circulating online are usually someone's guess. We publish numbers only where they tie to cited national legislation — 21 of 38 countries. For the other 17 we describe how enforcement works and say plainly that no verified figure exists. See penalties and enforcement.
EEA, Switzerland and the UK
Two persistent myths are worth killing directly:
- "You must re-register in Norway or Iceland." False. Both are EEA members and full participants in the EASA system. Your EU/EEA operator registration is valid there as-is.
- "Switzerland is covered by an EU registration." Also false. Switzerland applies the EASA framework — since 1 January 2023 — but runs its own registration and requires insurance above 250 g. Treat it as a parallel system.
The United Kingdom left the EASA system with Brexit and built its own: separate Operator and Flyer IDs, its own UK0–UK6 class marks on a different timetable, and no recognition of EU registrations or competency certificates in either direction. It has its own guide here.
Beyond those, the Western Balkans and Türkiye run national systems of their own. They mostly resemble the EASA framework — several have copied it deliberately — but a foreign registration does not carry across, and several require a flight to be reported before or after it happens. Each has its own page in the index.
Common questions
Are drone laws the same in every EU country?
The framework is, the detail is not. Categories, height limits and class marks are European; geographical zones, registration fees, insurance requirements and penalties are national. Both layers apply at once.
Which European countries are outside the EASA system?
Of the countries people usually ask about: Switzerland applies the EASA framework but runs its own registration — an EU number is not valid there. The UK left the system after Brexit and has its own rules entirely. Norway and Iceland are in the EEA and are full participants: your EU/EEA registration works there.
I registered in one EU country. Is that valid in the others?
Yes. One operator registration covers the whole EU/EEA. You register where you live and use that number everywhere in the zone.
If the rules are European, why does every country page say something different?
Because four things are left to each state: what registration costs, how long it lasts, whether insurance is required below 20 kg, and where the geographical zones are. Those four are the whole reason country pages exist. Everything else on them is the same European framework restated in a local context.
Is there a European fine for flying illegally?
No. Enforcement is entirely national, under national law, and the ranges are not comparable across borders. We publish figures only where we could tie them to the cited national legislation — that is 21 of the 38 countries here. For the rest we describe how enforcement works rather than invent a number.