Article 2 — Scope
In brief
This article delimits the scope of the Regulation. Chapter 2 applies to public buyers’ procurement of R&D services at or above a value threshold that is aligned with the existing EU public procurement directives. A specific rule adapts the applicable threshold for innovation agencies, subject to conditions, and certain categories of procurement are expressly carved out. Chapter 3 is directed at the EUIPO.
Key points
- Chapter 2 applies to R&D services procurement at or above the value threshold in Article 4(c) of Directive 2014/24/EU (net of VAT).
- For innovation agencies, a derogation aligns the threshold with Article 15(a) of Directive 2014/25/EU, provided the agency acts on its own mandate and respects transparency, non-discrimination and equal treatment.
- Chapter 2 does not apply to procurement covered by Directives 2014/23/EU, 2014/24/EU, 2014/25/EU or 2009/81/EC, nor to procurement excluded from Directive 2009/81/EC.
- Chapter 3 applies to the EUIPO.
What it means in practice
Public buyers and contracting authorities need to check both the value of a planned R&D procurement and whether it already falls under one of the listed directives before relying on this Regulation. Innovation agencies acting under their own mandate benefit from a distinct threshold. Firms bidding for R&D contracts can use these criteria to anticipate which regime governs a given tender.
Official text — Article 2 (COM(2026) 567)
Source: European Commission, proposal for a Regulation establishing the European Innovation Act, COM(2026) 567 final, 9 September 2026. Read the official proposal (PDF). Text may change during the legislative process.
Anthony Bochon’s analysis
The scope provision is where practitioners will spend real time, because it fixes the boundary between this new regime and the familiar procurement directives. My reading is that Chapter 2 is calibrated by value thresholds borrowed from Directives 2014/24/EU and 2014/25/EU, with a deliberate derogation for innovation agencies acting on their own mandate — provided they still respect transparency, non-discrimination and equal treatment. That carve-out is significant: it recognises that specialised funders of research operate differently from classic contracting authorities, while keeping them tethered to the general principles of EU public procurement law.
Equally important is what the Regulation excludes — anything already caught by the concessions, utilities, classic or defence procurement directives. In advising public bodies, I would stress that the first analytical step is always classification: getting the applicable regime wrong here is the kind of error that unravels an entire procedure. I expect the interplay of these thresholds and exclusions to attract close scrutiny in the co-legislative process.