Article 38 — Committee procedure
In brief
This article sets out how the Commission is to be assisted when it adopts implementing acts under the European Innovation Act. It relies on the Committee on Implementation Rules already established by the EU trade mark Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2017/1001, and confirms that this committee operates within the framework of the general rules on committee procedure, Regulation (EU) No 182/2011. Where the Regulation refers to this procedure, the examination procedure in that framework applies.
Key points
- The Commission is assisted by the Committee on Implementation Rules established under Regulation (EU) 2017/1001.
- That committee is a committee within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011.
- Where the Regulation refers to this paragraph, Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 applies.
- Article 5 corresponds to the examination procedure for adopting implementing acts.
What it means in practice
This provision is mainly of interest to those following how the Regulation will be implemented in detail. It does not itself create obligations for public buyers or firms, but it fixes the process through which the Commission’s implementing acts will be scrutinised by Member State representatives. Reusing an existing committee avoids setting up new machinery.
Official text — Article 38 (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 comitology clause is easy to skim past, but it decides how much say Member States will have over the detail of this Regulation. Assistance by the Committee on Implementation Rules already established under the trade mark Regulation, coupled with the reference to Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011, means implementing acts will follow the examination procedure — the more demanding of the two comitology tracks, where a negative committee opinion prevents the Commission from adopting the measure.
In practice, this is where much of the Act’s real operational content will be shaped, well after the political text is agreed. My advice to anyone tracking this file is to follow the committee work as closely as the primary text, because the examination procedure gives national representatives genuine leverage over the standards, templates and technical rules that will govern day-to-day application.