title_body: Flying a drone in France In the future, I plan to fly a small (&lt;250 gram) in France, are there any special licenses/permits that have to be obtained? What are the laws on this? Where are the no-fly zones located?
upvoted_answer: You mention that this will be in the future. While the other answer covers the current situation well, you should note that the rules are due to be harmonised across Europe and this might introduce some changes.
  
  https://dronerules.eu/en/recreational/eu_regulations_updates
  
  The following image summarises the requirements for the new regulations:
  
  
  This table refers to the new classes, which are intended to make it easier for a consumer to tell what they can do with their drone (new drones should show their class on their packaging) [source]:
  
  Class C0 - (can be flown in all subcategories) Very small unmanned aircraft, including toys, that: 
  
  
  are less than 250g maximum take-off mass
  have a maximum speed of 19m/s (approx. 42.5 mph)
  are unable to be flown more than 120m (400ft) from the controlling device 
  
  
  Class C1 – (can be flown in all subcategories) Unmanned aircraft that:
  
  
  are either:
  
  
  less than 900g maximum take-off mass, or;
  are made and perform in a way that if they collide with a human head, the energy transmitted will be less than 80 Joules
  
  have a maximum speed of 19m/s (approx. 42.5 mph)
  designed and constructed so as to minimise injury to people
  
  
  The standards also cover other aspects such as noise limits, height limits and requirements for remote identification and geoawareness systems. 
  
  Class C2 – (can be flown in subcategory A2 [close to people] or A3 [far from people]) Unmanned aircraft that:
  
  
  are less than 4kg maximum take-off mass
  designed and constructed so as to minimise injury to people
  are equipped with a low-speed mode’ which limits the maximum speed to 3m/s(approx. 6.7 mph) when selected by the remote pilot
  
  
  The standards also cover other aspects such as noise limits (but different from C1), height limits and requirements for remote identification and geoawareness systems, plus additional requirements if it is to be used during tethered flight. 
  
  Class C3 – (flown in subcategory A3 [far from people] only) Unmanned aircraft that possess automatic control modes (such as found in typical multicopter ‘drones’) which:
  
  
  are less than 25kg maximum take-off mass
  
  
  The standards also cover other aspects covering height limits and requirements for remote identification and geoawareness systems.  There are also additional requirements if it is to be used during tethered flight, but there is no specified noise limit (because the aircraft is intended to be flown ‘far from people’). 
  
  Class C4 – (flown in subcategory A3 [far from people] only) Unmanned aircraft that do not possess any automation, other than for basic flight stabilisation (and so are more representative of a ‘traditional’ model aircraft) which:
  
  
  Are less than 25kg maximum take-off mass