More drones in Europe’s skies might not sound like the obvious recipe for consensus among EU ministers.
Yet, lifting a long-standing ban on spraying pesticides from uncrewed aerial vehicles is the least controversial part of the European Commission’s overhaul of the bloc’s pesticide rules — and one that the EU member countries have been seeking for years.
While drones tend to carry negative connotations, given their deadly use in war or the ongoing airspace violations on the EU’s eastern borders, their mission does not have to involve death and destruction.
Since the 2010s, agricultural drones have taken off worldwide, going from novelty to standard farming tool in less than a decade. Visit any major agricultural fair and you’ll see high-tech drones stealing the spotlight once occupied by tractors and ploughs.
