In view of the work on preparing the draft European Committee of the Regions (CoR) opinion on the European Innovation Act, as well as the Council Recommendation on common principles on regulatory sandboxes, stakeholders are invited to send input to the CoR written consultation by 5 November 2026.

The possible questions for this consultation include:

1. The European Innovation Act targets specific operational tools related to IP & procurement rather than a holistic innovation ecosystem overhaul. In your view, what critical elements or missing links should have been included in the Act to fully support innovation at the regional and local levels?
2. How effectively will the European Innovation Act enable cities and regions to use public procurement as a strategic tool to solve local challenges?
3. Do you foresee the new R&D procurement rules genuinely improving access to public contracts for local start-ups, scale-ups, and innovative SMEs?
4. What are the main legal, administrative, and governance barriers preventing cities and regions from launching joint cross-border R&D procurements, participating in joint regulatory sandboxes, or jointly deploying open-source technologies and digital public infrastructure to accelerate innovation across the EU?
5. How effectively will the new IP framework and Competence Centre encourage local start-ups to value and leverage their intellectual property? What specific barriers must the Act address to ensure these assets stay and scale within European regions?
6. What practical impacts will the "European preference" and localized R&D requirements have on local authorities' budgets and their operational ability to secure the best innovative solutions?
7. How can the European Innovation Act support smaller, rural, or less innovation-intensive territories to realistically access and benefit from its key tools?
8. Does the Act strike the right balance between EU-wide harmonized rules and the flexibility required by regional and local authorities to respond to specific territorial needs?

Please provide your input to econ@cor.europa.eu by the deadline of Thursday 5 November (eob).

Following this consultation, the rapporteur (Martijn van Gruijthuijsen, NL/Renew, Regional Minister of Noord-Brabant), will draft his opinion, which will be voted upon at the CoR ECON Commission meeting on 9 December 2026.

Contact: ECON Commission Secretariat econ@cor.europa.eu

ERRIN has previously submitted its input on the European Innovation Act on 3 October 2025, in response to the European Commission’s Call for Evidence. In the document, we highlighted the need for a stronger, more coordinated and place-based EU innovation policy that fully mobilises Europe’s regional and local innovation ecosystems.