Implementing the transformative innovation policy in the European Union: how does transformative change occur in Member States?

Despite the emerging theoretical importance of the ‘transformative change’ approach, relatively little is known about how the transition towards this approach is happening in different European contexts, as well as the institutional factors that help explain possible different reform trajectories. To fill this research gap, this article interprets the adoption of the ‘transformative change’ approach in Europe as a paradigmatic case of multi-level policy implementation in the European Union. Taking advantage of an institutional approach drawing on path dependency, it considers how transformative change is happening in two Member States (France and Germany). It does so by focusing on the policy mix adopted to address grand challenges and the type of governance mechanisms mainly used to secure legitimization and coordination. Albeit within the same EU framework, this article shows a diverse development of the innovation policies in the two Member States with the use of a different mix of policy instruments in line with their traditional domestic institutional contexts. Institutional contexts also filtered the early stages of the responses to the COVID-19 crisis. These results have specific implications useful for policy makers and practitioners in the design and implementation of regional innovation policies across different European contexts.