EU-Drones examines how the European Union (EU) tackles drone-related issues. More especially, it is interested in the role of the European Commission which has exercised its leadership capacity to set up a European policy framework for civil use of drones. Hence, the research project studies the Commission’s strategy to join and shape the drone community (rule makers, interest groups, manufacturers, operators and users), and it assesses the impact the Commission’s actions may exert. The project analyses the configuration of relations (interests, resources, skills), perceptions (discourses) and action rationales (cooperation dynamics, informal and formal practices, strategies and means) of actors involved in EU initiatives in the drone sector: the single market, the regulatory framework as well as the EU supported research programme for civil drones. In line with my previous work, the research will evaluate to what extent the Commission’s involvement in the drone sector helps to strengthen its position in the field of security.

I am a Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellow (2017-2019) at the Institute for European Studies of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. I hold a PhD in Political Science from the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM). I am an associate researcher with the Jean Monnet Centre Montréal (Université de Montréal and McGill University) and the French think tank OSINTPOL. I conducted postdoctoral research at the European University Institute (EUI, Florence) and the Institute for Strategic Research Ecole militaire (IRSEM, Paris). I was a visiting fellow at the University of Dundee, Bahçeşehir Üniversitesi (Istanbul) and Université de Montréal, and taught seminars and classes at various Canadian and European universities. My previous research and publications focus on the relations between state and non-state actors in European security and especially on the contribution of the European Commission.