Mar 27, 2026
The Joint European Drone Associations (JEDA) and ASTM International today announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the XPONENTIAL Europe Drone event in Düsseldorf, Germany during the Standards Forum.
The MoU establishes a framework for cooperation to strengthen awareness, participation, and alignment around international voluntary consensus standards. This work will support safe, scalable, and harmonized drone operations and technologies across Europe and global markets.
“This Memorandum brings our National Member Drone Associations closer to the standards work that is increasingly referenced across Europe, and it strengthens the feedback loop between industry and regulators as operations scale and the implementation of U-space and related frameworks accelerates,” says Julie Garland, President, JEDA. “By connecting European stakeholders directly with ASTM’s consensus-based process, we can help reduce fragmentation, improve interoperability and harmonization to accelerate the safe integration of UAS into European airspace.”
Under the MoU, JEDA and ASTM International intend to collaborate on activities such as:
“The future of aviation will be built across borders—and it will require trusted, consensus-based standards,” says Jeff Grove, ASTM’s vice president of global policy, cooperation and communication. “This MoU strengthens global collaboration so innovation can advance safely, regulators and industry can align, and the market can have confidence in the responsible integration of UAS and advanced air mobility.”
The agreement was signed during XPONENTIAL Europe, a leading European forum bringing together industry, regulators, and technology providers focused on advancing uncrewed aviation and enabling services.
For more information about this collaboration, ASTM standards activities related to drones, or opportunities to participate, please contact Julie Garland at julie.garland@jeda-uas.eu or visit: https://jeda-uas.eu. For more information on ASTM, visit astm.org.
About JEDA
JEDA, the Joint European Drone Associations, is a policy and regulatory oriented umbrella organization of European National Drone Associations created to promote the interests of stakeholders engaged in the operation, production, research and development, services, and applications of uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) in Europe. JEDA supports a common understanding of the seamless integration of UAS/Drones/RPAS into aviation and the European airspace system.
About ASTM Drone Standards Activity
ASTM International supports the safe integration and scaling of drones, unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), and Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) through its standards development activities, including work led by ASTM Committee F38 on Unmanned Aircraft Systems. Through global, voluntary consensus standards and related technical guidance, ASTM brings together industry, regulators, and technical experts to address foundational needs such as system performance, operational safety, and interoperability—helping enable market confidence and harmonized adoption of emerging aviation technologies.
Media Inquiries: Gavin O’Reilly, tel +1.610.832.9618; goreilly@astm.org
Release #13079
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