Innovation and EU Competition Law: In Need of a Narrative for Where the Money Is Put

Abstract:

The concept of innovation features prominently in today’s policy agendas. The Europe 2020 strategy and the respective ‘flagship initiatives’ validate this statement. Yet, a coherent correlation between innovation and the EU’s competition policy seems to be still in need of clarification.

By gauging various proxies, this contribution observes that the competition – innovation nexus, although well attended, may very well be ill-defined. By taking a closer look at the technology transfer regime and the abuse of dominance doctrine in EU competition law, we attempt to investigate if and how innovation features as an objective in the application of competition law.

An explicit role for innovation appears to be limited to instances where competition law may contribute to optimal appropriation. Explicit references to ‘environmental’ determinants of innovation could not be found, yet discussing these could enhance the coherency in conceptualizing the innovation – competition nexus, and at the end of the day, in the EU’s discourse relating to the importance of innovation in the years to come. The narrative described in this contribution may facilitate the orientation of EU competition law to innovation, as the broader policy agendas seem to require.