In November 2020, the Council of the European Union adopted a set of conclusions on the role of regulatory sandboxes and experimentation clauses in an innovation-friendly, future-proof, sustainable and resilient EU regulatory framework.
Name in original language
Council Conclusions on Regulatory Sandboxes
Initiative overview
These conclusions call upon the European Commission to present the findings of its evaluation in the first half of 2021, followed up by practical recommendations for the possible future use of regulatory sandboxes and experimentation clauses at EU level in the second half of 2021. Regulatory sandboxes are increasingly used in a range of sectors, often including the use of new, emerging technologies - such as AI and blockchain - or the innovative use of existing technologies.The initiative has the following objectives:- To affirm that regulatory sandboxes offer significant opportunities, particularly to innovate and grow for all businesses, especially SMEs, including micro-enterprises as well as start-ups, in industry, services and other sectors.- To encourage the Commission to continue considering the use of experimentation clauses on a case-by-case basis when drafting and reviewing legislation, as well as to evaluate the use of experimentation clauses in ex-post evaluations and fitness checks on the basis of an exchange of information with member states.
