The European Plan for Aviation Safety (EPA) is the aviation safety plan for the EASA Member States. It sets out the strategic priorities, enablers, and principal risks affecting the European aviation system and the necessary actions to mitigate them and improve aviation safety. EPAS is a five-year plan that is updated and reviewed annually. It was developed by EASA, its Member States, and the industry players. Another objective of this plan is to ensure environmental protection and efficiency in regulatory processes.

On 17 January 2022, EASA published the 11th edition of this document, which will last until 2026. The focus of this last edition is to compensate for the negative repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring safe flights in addition to the already existing strategic priorities.

It is expected that the recovery of the pre-pandemic traffic volume will take two more years; that’s why the Agency proposes to postpone the full review of EPAS strategic priorities for a post-crisis aviation system and to prioritize a high level of safety against COVID-19.

In the case of drones, EASA has as a high-priority activity to enable the safe integration of this emerging market, including the regulation for the ‘’open’’ and ‘’specific’’ categories in its standardization activities and developing a comprehensive EU regulatory framework for the ‘’certified’’ UAS category.