Why it matters

The threat and the response move at different speeds, and that gap now has an operational cost.

At a European airport, the time between detecting a drone and disruption is under five minutes. Many airports have neither the legal authority to act inside that window nor a chain of command fast enough to reach someone who does.

Drone disruptions at European airports more than tripled between January 2024 and November 2025. Belgium reportedly had a certified counter-drone police unit during airport shutdowns, and asked NATO allies for help instead.

Two layers, one proposal

Europe's drone problem has two layers. Below sit hybrid attacks under the threshold of war, often with deniable origin. Above sits the coordination of national, EU and NATO tools, which the ECFR calls a "hotch-potch".

The new protocol sits between them. It creates a place to meet, and leaves open who can fire, jam or neutralise a drone, in which airspace and under whose command. Those answers stay national until 2030 at the earliest.

flowchart TD
  A[Hybrid attack below the threshold] --> B[Emergency Security Protocol]
  B --> C[All 27 governments meet]
  C --> D{Who may act?}
  D --> E[National rules until 2030]