How to use public contracts to win against the United States: the EU looks at its own technologies

As of today, what is colloquially referred to as the “European Innovation Regulation” corresponds to the package of the European Innovation Act, presented by the Commission on September 9, 2026. According to the Commission itself, it is still a proposal for a regulation on public procurement of R&D accompanied by a proposal for a Council Recommendation on regulatory sandbox environments, so the text has not yet been approved by the co-legislators.

Consequently, there is not yet a fixed schedule for “full entry into force.” What can be clearly identified are the remaining parliamentary procedures in the ordinary legislative procedure of the EU until the final adoption of the regulation and, afterwards, its formal implementation steps.

1. Pending procedures in the European Parliament

After the presentation of the European Innovation Act proposal — described in the Commission documents “Questions and Answers on the European Innovation Act” and the “Press statements by Vice-President Séjourné and Commissioner Zaharieva” — the ordinary parliamentary machinery is activated. The key next steps are:

• Assignment to competent committee: the Parliament’s Bureau decides which committee or committees will be responsible for the proposal (usually a “lead committee” and, if applicable, associated or consultative committees).
• Appointment of rapporteur: political groups designate a Member of the European Parliament as rapporteur and shadow rapporteurs from each group. They will negotiate the content of the regulation on behalf of the Parliament.
• Amendment phase in committee: committee members submit amendments to the Commission’s text. A compromise package is negotiated combining the priorities of the different groups.
• Committee vote: the committee adopts a report (Parliament’s position in first reading) that includes the amended articles and usually a statement of reasons.
• Plenary vote: the committee report is submitted to the Plenary of the European Parliament. The Plenary may still vote on additional amendments and finally approves a first reading position, which will be the basis for negotiation with the Council.

2. Pending procedures in the Council of the European Union

In parallel with the Parliament, Member States work on the text in the Council:

• Debate in technical working groups: government representatives analyze the Commission’s proposal article by article, propose changes, and seek internal agreement.
• Approval of a “general approach”: once there is sufficient political consensus, the Council (in the competent formation) adopts its negotiating position, known as the general approach.
• Coordination in COREPER: the Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER) refines the negotiation mandates for the so-called “trilogues” with the Parliament.

3. Interinstitutional negotiation (trilogues)

With the Parliament’s position (first reading) and the Council’s general approach on the table, the trilogue phase opens:

• Trilogue meetings between negotiating teams of Parliament, Council, and Commission to agree on a common text of the innovation regulation.
• Provisional political agreement: if the parties converge, a compromise text is finalized. This agreement must be validated:
  • by the responsible parliamentary committee (and then by the Plenary), and
  • by the Council (usually through COREPER and subsequent formal adoption by the ministers).
• Possible second reading: if no agreement is reached in the first reading, the procedure moves to second readings and, ultimately, could reach a conciliation committee. In practice, many regulation proposals are closed in the first reading if there is sufficient agreement.

4. Formal adoption, Official Journal of the EU (OJ), and entry into force

Once Parliament and Council approve the same text:

• Signing of the regulation by the Presidents of the European Parliament and the Council.
• Publication in the Official Journal of the EU (OJ). The European Innovation Act project foresees that the R&D procurement regulation provides a common and simplified framework for the entire Union; the effective application of all its obligations will depend on the dates set in the final articles.
• Entry into force: as a general rule, EU regulations enter into force 20 days after their publication in the OJ, unless the text provides a different period.
• Phased application: it is expected that the regulation will include transitional periods for contracting authorities to adapt their R&D procurement procedures, as well as to fully implement the regulatory sandbox environments mentioned by the Commission. The “full entry into force” materially depends on those deadlines.

In parallel, the Council Recommendation on sandbox environments accompanying the European Innovation Act follows a different path: the Parliament issues a non-binding opinion and, subsequently, the Council may adopt it without further parliamentary ratification. However, this instrument is not a regulation and does not legally condition the entry into force of the future “Innovation Regulation” in the strict sense.

The figure of a “European Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation” (currently Ekaterina Zaharieva, according to speeches and notes from the Commission and the European Parliament) is a political and organizational creation of the Commission, not a legal category explicitly included in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). Therefore, the TFEU does not contain a list of “exact competences” of a Commissioner for Startups nor an article that expressly mentions it.

What the TFEU does do is:

• Define the material competences of the Union (internal market, competition, industrial policy, research, etc.).
• Establish the general role of the European Commission as the executive body, guardian of the Treaties, and initiator of the legislative process.

On this basis, the College of Commissioners internally distributes portfolios (for example, “Startups, Research and Innovation”) and the President sets the tasks of each member in mission letters and internal decisions. This distribution is not detailed in the TFEU but in political and organizational documents of the Commission.

There is no basis in the TFEU that says “Commissioner for Startups”

The located documents show that:

• In the presentation speech of the new College of Commissioners, President von der Leyen announces Ekaterina Zaharieva as the “first Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation” and politically explains her mission: to close the innovation gap with the United States and China, bring cutting-edge technology from the lab to the market, and support startups and scaling companies within the single market (speech of 27/11/2024, available on the Commission’s website).
• Other press notes from the Commission and the Council link this portfolio to the EU strategy for startups and scaleups, the proposal for EU Inc. (an optional European corporate regime to facilitate operating across the EU), the creation of the Scaleup Europe Fund, and the deployment of the European Innovation Act.

However, all these texts describe her mission in political and programmatic terms (which initiatives she coordinates, which funds she promotes, which regulatory reforms she proposes), not as a list of legal competences “according to the TFEU”.

What the TFEU says that is relevant for startups

From a legal point of view, the actions of this commissioner are based on the general competences of the Union and the Commission in fields affecting startups, among others:

• Internal market, freedoms of establishment and movement, which allow creating a single framework in which innovative companies can operate in several States without 27 different regimes.
• Competition policy, which must prevent agreements and practices that restrict or distort competition within the single market:
  • The Commission’s notes explicitly cite Article 101 TFEU, which prohibits agreements between companies and decisions of associations of companies that restrict competition.
  • And Article 102 TFEU, which prohibits abuse of dominant position.
  • Article 106 TFEU is also mentioned when it comes to decisions by Member States that may affect competition.
• Research, innovation and support for innovative companies, which enable programs such as the European Innovation Council, the ESSS (startup and scaleup scoreboard), or funds for “deep tech.”

In these fields, the TFEU sets who has competence (the Union, exclusively or shared with the States) and empowers the Commission to propose legislation, apply competition rules, and manage programs. But the Treaty does not go into detail saying “Commissioner X is in charge of startups”; it simply attributes functions to the Commission as an institution.

Real competences of the commissioner: derived from the Commission, not the TFEU

In practice, the “Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation” exercises the competences of the Commission in the areas politically assigned to her:

• Propose and negotiate new European rules relevant to startups (for example, EU Inc. or the future European Innovation Act).
• Design and execute funding and support programs (funds like Scaleup Europe, EIC programs, pan-European venture capital instruments).
• Promote regulatory simplification (regime 28, regulatory sandbox frameworks, digital one-stop shops for company creation, etc.).
• Ensure that these policies respect the competition rules of the TFEU (Articles 101 and 102) and the rest of Union law.

All this is done on behalf of the European Commission, a collegiate body. The commissioner does not have a “separate competence” distinct from that of the Commission, but an internal mandate to lead these dossiers.

Conclusion

Therefore:

• There is a commissioner responsible for Startups, Research and Innovation, created by political decision of the Commission President and validated in parliamentary hearings.
• There is no article in the TFEU listing her exact competences nor mentioning that portfolio; the Treaty defines competences of the Union and the Commission in broad fields (internal market, competition, innovation…) that are later specified in political portfolios such as startups.
• Her legal powers stem from the general functions of the Commission and the sectoral legal bases of the TFEU, while the concrete distribution (which instrument or program she coordinates) is set in mission letters and internal decisions, not in the Treaty itself.

For a company to be able to submit bids for public R&D tenders funded or regulated by the European Union (Horizon Europe, ERDF programs, research contracts from public administrations, etc.), it must comply with a set of legal requirements that combine EU public procurement rules and, where applicable, those of each Member State. Broadly speaking, these are grouped into: legal capacity, absence of prohibitions to contract, economic and technical solvency, tax and labor compliance, and specific R&D requirements (intellectual property, confidentiality, research ethics, among others).

1. Legal capacity and capacity to act

The company must:

• Be validly constituted according to the legislation of the State where it is headquartered (registered statutes, recognized corporate form, etc.).
• Have legal personality and capacity to contract in its own name.
• Be duly represented by a person with sufficient powers to sign bids and contracts.

In practice, the tender documents require documentation such as articles of incorporation, powers of representation, and sometimes certificates from the commercial register or equivalent.

2. Absence of prohibitions and exclusion grounds

EU public procurement legislation (currently Directives 2014/24/EU and 2014/25/EU) sets mandatory and optional exclusion grounds that Member States have incorporated into their national law. Among the most common are:

• Final convictions for serious crimes (corruption, fraud, money laundering, terrorism, human trafficking, etc.).
• Serious breaches of tax or social security obligations, when declared by a final decision.
• Irregularities regarding competition rules, unresolved conflicts of interest, or falsification of information in previous procedures.
• Situations of insolvency, bankruptcy, liquidation, or judicial intervention that prevent proper contract execution.

To prove this, self-declarations are usually required and, sometimes, specific certificates from tax or judicial authorities.

3. Economic and financial solvency

The contracting authority must ensure that the awardee has the economic capacity to assume the risks and commitments of the R&D contract. It is common to require:

• A minimum annual global turnover or in the R&D field, referring to one or more previous financial years.
• Financial ratios demonstrating stability (for example, positive net assets or reasonable debt levels).
• In some cases, professional liability or damage insurance.

These requirements are justified by audited annual accounts, certificates from financial entities, or insurance policies.

4. Specific technical and professional solvency in R&D

In R&D contracts, technical solvency is decisive. Usually required are:

• Previous experience in equivalent research or innovation projects (executed contracts, European or national projects, publications, patents).
• Availability of qualified personnel (PhDs, engineers, specialist technicians) with profiles suitable for the contract’s object.
• Material and technological means: laboratories, equipment, scientific or technological infrastructures needed.
• Quality management systems or relevant certifications (ISO, good laboratory practices, etc.), if required by the tender.

5. Tax, labor, and social security compliance

Every company wishing to contract with the public sector in the EU must be up to date with payment of:

• Mandatory taxes and fees in its Member State (VAT, corporate tax, withholdings, etc.).
• Social security contributions, including those for its workers.

This compliance is proven with official certificates from tax and social security authorities. In some systems, an initial self-declaration suffices and verification is done only when proposing the award.

6. Specific requirements for R&D projects

Besides general requirements, R&D tenders usually include particular conditions, among which stand out:

• Intellectual property and results: acceptance of rules on who will own the results, licenses, transfer or sharing of rights, and open access to publications or data when applicable.
• Research ethics: compliance with European and national regulations on data protection (GDPR), trials with humans or animals, biosafety, research with sensitive materials, etc.
• Risk prevention and environment: compliance with safety rules in laboratories, waste management, hazardous substances, and often sustainability and climate policies.
• Scientific integrity and good practices: internal policies against result manipulation, plagiarism, or conflicts of interest.

7. Additional requirements linked to European funds

When the tender is financed with EU funds (Horizon Europe, ERDF, Recovery and Resilience Mechanism, etc.), the following are usually added:

• Obligations of accounting traceability and specific audit of R&D expenses.
• Commitments to publicize EU support (logos, mentions in publications and prototypes).
• Respect for the principle of “do no significant harm” to the environment, when the program requires it.

Overall, complying with these requirements demands good internal organization, compliance systems, and prior experience in competitive R&D contracts or projects.