The House of Lords has called for the creation of an online database for drones in Europe, in order to track and manage drone traffic.

The House of Lords EU Internal Market, Infrastructure and Employment Sub-Committee, which is scrutinising the European Commission’s proposals for drones, said that the commercial drone operators can register their drones in the online database.

It has also suggested that the online database or app will also allow leisure users to register their drones in future.

Though the Committee has supported harmonisation of rules for drone use, it has said that there should be flexibility in national safety rules for small drones or Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS), arguing that it will create as many as 150,000 jobs by 2050 in the continent.

Committee chairman Baroness O’Cathain said: "The growth in civilian drone use has been astonishing and they are taking to the skies faster than anyone could have predicted.

"We have a huge opportunity to make Europe a world leader in drone technology. But there’s also a risk — public understanding of how to use drones safely may not keep pace with people’s appetite to fly them.

"It would just take one disastrous accident to destroy public confidence and set the whole industry back.

"So we need to find ways to manage and keep track of drone traffic. That is why a key recommendation is that drone flights must be traceable, effectively through an online database, which the general public could access via an app."

The committee said that over-regulation could stifle the growth which can be avoided by formulating ‘safety rules are proportionate to risk’.

The committee has suggested expanding the application of geo-fencing technology, which will limit flights of drones over high risk sites, as well as new guidance for police to enforce safety rules.

It has also supported research into new technologies, such as ‘detect and avoid’, however suggested that such research should also include the small drone sector.

O’Cathain said, "We need to use technology creatively, not just to manage the skies, but to help police them as well."

The committee has also suggested that there should be a public debate over the acceptable civilian application of drones as they are being planned to be increasingly used by media and police.

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