As accredited third parties, Qualified Entities (QEs) perform specific technical, safety, and oversight tasks on behalf of EASA or national competent authorities. This model is intended to reduce the workload of authorities, provide specialised technical expertise, and improve response times for applicants in any aviation domain.
Although rules for the allocation of tasks to QEs are established in several Commission Implementing Regulations, comprehensive rules on accreditation and privileges of QEs do not exist, nor are provisions on the role and use of QEs present in Regulation (EU) 2019/947, which governs Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) operations. The resulting ambiguities create legal uncertainty and increase the workload for authorities, QEs, and applicants, thereby hindering the wider deployment of UAS operations.
In light of the forthcoming revision of Regulation (EU) 2019/947, we therefore advocate defining a clear scope for QEs through the implementation of a tiered system that distinguishes between different levels of privilege. Under this approach, National Aviation Authorities (NAAs) would accredit tier-1 and tier-2 QEs for advisory and oversight tasks, respectively, while certification privileges would be limited to tier-3 QEs.
In this paper, you will find the detailed suggestions we put forward and which we will discuss with the wider ecosystem in the next meeting of the EASA Drone Community Steering Group (D.CSTG), taking place on 25/26 March 2026.