If we want to ensure that regulation does not lag behind innovation, we will need more flexibility and “breathing space” in the future. Experimentation clauses are key components for shaping the legal framework in an innovation-friendly and future-oriented way. New legislation and regulation is to be improved and rendered more flexible by an increased use of experimentation clauses.
In this context, it is crucial from the outset to build the possibility of experimentation clauses into the drafting and revision of legislation, and to keep reviewing the need for them and ways to implement them. In future, all draft legislation will be bindingly scrutinised as to whether experimentation clauses could be used to create wider scope for innovative ideas. This scrutiny obligation applies as of May 2025, when the digital assessment assistant for low-bureaucracy scrutiny will be available on the internal government platform for eLegislation at federal level. It is already possible to conduct assessments using the PDF version of the scheme.
The guide for formulating experimentation clauses provided by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energyhas information on how to word these clauses in a way that is legally certain and effective. For this purpose, there is also a digital assistant on the internal government platform for eLegislation; as of summer 2025, there will also be a freely accessible digital version.
The guide sets out five steps on the development of experimentation clauses that are legally certain and open to innovation, and includes a set of stock phrases that can be used in the wording of the legislation. On the basis of this guide, the Coordinating Office for Regulatory Sandboxes works closely together with the competent ministries to create new experimentation clauses and improve existing regulation. The Federal Ministry of Justice then checks as part of its regular legal scrubbing of draft legislation whether the proposed experimentation clauses are in line with the existing standards (cf. Handbuch der Rechtsförmlichkeit (in German), paras. 435 and 436).
Experimentation clauses have recently gained further importance in German law and are already anchored in various regulatory areas. Well-known examples in national law are the rules on trialling new modes or means of passenger transport (section 2(7) Carriage of Passengers Act) and on autonomous driving (section 1i Road Traffic Act in conjunction with section 16 Ordinance regulating the operation of motor vehicles with automated and autonomous driving functions), as well as for testing supply services in the postal sector (section 23 of the Postal Act) and testing new materials in the fertiliser sector (section 4 of the German Fertiliser Ordinance).
Interministerial Working Group on Regulatory Sandboxes and Federal/Länder Working Group on Regulatory Sandboxes
The concrete fields of application for regulatory sandboxes are diverse and extend far beyond the responsibilities of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs andEnergy. Close collaboration between the ministries and with the Länder is therefore a key requirement in order to both design and continually improve upon an innovation-friendly policy environment for regulatory sandboxes.
To simplify the exchange, the “Interministerial Working Group on Regulatory Sandboxes” was formed and has been convening regularly since 2019. Since May 2023, a Federal/Länder Working Group on Regulatory Sandboxes has been in place to ensure and facilitate the involvement of the Länder in establishing the Regulatory Sandbox Act and accompanying measures. There is a broad consensus among ministries and Länder that regulatory sandboxes represent an important and necessary instrument to further develop the regulatory framework and enable innovation in Germany to progress in times of digital and sustainable transition.
International pioneers and the European framework
European law also often plays an important role for regulatory sandboxes. During Germany's Council Presidency, the Council of the European Union adopted conclusions on regulatory sandboxes and experimentation clauses on 16 November 2020. For the first time, the EU member states have created a common EU-wide understanding of what regulatory sandboxes and experimentation clauses are and what opportunities they offer. Regulatory sandboxes are also a key measure in the New European Innovation Agenda, as the European Commission is often also called upon when there is a need to improve the legal bases on which regulatory sandboxes rest.
Regulatory sandboxes and experimentation clauses have thus been and continue to be anchored in various legal acts, such as the EU AI Act, the Net-Zero Industry Act, the Industrial Emissions Directive and the Interoperable Europe Act.
Regarding the use of artificial intelligence, the European Commission has laid out a framework for this in its AI Act, which came into force on 1 August 2024. The AI Act contains regulations for what it refers to as AI regulatory sandboxes which create space to test out innovations. The Act also intends extended legal possibilities for data usage in AI regulatory sandboxes and close supervision from the responsible authorities. Overall, more consideration is devoted to the interests and needs of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and startups. Regulatory sandboxes are crucial to the ability of SMEs and startups in particular to test and develop new AI systems in a legally secure way.
The expert report “Regulatory sandboxes - Overview of international regulatory approaches and their transferability into German law" (in German only) shows which legal approaches to experimentation are used around the world, and examines approaches from France, Denmark and Japan in detail to see if learning from these might help to advance German law.
In 2025, the OECD has also published a Regulatory Sandbox Toolkit as a guide for regulators to establish and manage regulatory sandboxes effectively.
