Update 14 December 2018 Parliament failed to halt references to the innovation principle in Horizon Europe (recital 3 in COM(2018) 435: ‘The promotion of research and innovation activities deemed necessary to help realise Union policy objectives should take into account the innovation principle as put forward in the Commission Communication of 15 May 2018 ‘A renewed European Agenda for Research and Innovation – Europe’s chance to shape its future’ (COM(2018)306).’ An initial report on the failure is here, I shall have a post soon. Of crucial note is that Commissionner Moedas has emphasised verbatim that the innovation principle is not binding EU law: from the Politico Report: ‘“I think we have some misunderstanding here … The Horizon Europe proposal does not in any way establish the innovation principle or incorporate it into EU law. It is referred to in the recitals but it is not something that is [in] the proposal,” he said.
Moedas continued: “We need an innovation principle as we need a precautionary principle. Both are complimentary.”
Commission officials say the innovation principle does not have the same legal weight as the precautionary principle, which is included in the EU treaties.
Update 12 December 2018. There has been quite a bot of noise around the principle in recent days – see our comments in pieces by Le Monde, Politico, and Follow the Money.
Our paper on the innovation principle, with Kathleen Garnett and Leonie Reins is just out in Law, Innovation and Technology. We discuss how industry has been pushing for the principle to be added as a regulatory driver. Not as a trojan horse: industry knocks politely but firmly at the EU door, it is then simply let in by the European Commission. We discuss the ramifications of such principle and the wider consequences for EU policy making.
Happy reading.
Geert.
(Handbook of) EU Environmental Law (with Dr Reins), 1st ed. 2017, Chapter 2.
gavc law - geert van calster 