ABSTRACT
According to the Lisbon strategy and Europe 2020 innovation is considered a fundamental force by the European Union to promote economic growth and increase citizens’ well-being. In particular, since it is estimated that about 16–18 per cent of European Gross Domestic Product is transacted by the public sector (Dimitri et al., 2006), procurement activity in such sector can represent a crucial driver to pursue the above goals (Geroski, 1990). Consistently with this view, in recent years the EU has made available to the system of public administrations some new legal instruments, suitable to purchase complex and innovative ‘projects’. In particular, while the Directive 2004/18/EC has introduced the ‘Competitive Dialogue’ to procure complex projects, however typically with solutions already available on the market, the Communication by the European Commission COM(2007)799 (COM henceforth) enacted pre-commercial procurement (PCP) as a legal instrument to introduce innovative products not yet available on the market, or when the existing solutions are particularly unsatisfactory.
