The Council of Ministers has approved new laws to establish a system of registration for drones which now will need to have civil liability insurance to cover damage caused to third parties.
"The objective is clear: to strengthen the safety and operation of this sector, which is very important and is developing in a significant way in our country," said the Minister of Planning and Infrastructure, Pedro Marquês.
The minister added that European regulations anyway are being drawn up, to be adopted in 2018, but due to the number of recent near-misses between drones and aircraft carrying passengers, the government decided to go ahead right away.
Marquês said the new Portuguese laws for drones follow much of the proposed European legislation and also provides for "an appropriate penalty system for non-compliance with a set of safety rules," to dissuade illegal drone activity, especially near airports.
"We are concerned about the safety of citizens, but also about the reliability of drones in a booming sector,” added Marques.
Two dozen interested bodies were consulted before the final draft was sent for approval. The proposed legislation now will follow go through a public consultation phase before being passed into law with any necessary changes.
