Europe’s new quantum computing strategy is ahead of its time and reveals an unprecedented geopolitical urgency. The European Commission’s recent announcement to present its action plan on quantum technologies as early as June – instead of Q3 2025 – represents a clear acceleration in the global race for technological supremacy. This change of plan is not accidental but responds to a growing realisation: Europe risks missing the innovation train in a sector that promises to reshape the world’s economic and security balance in the coming decades.
Stakeholder consultations have highlighted a worrying reality: despite Europe’s excellence in quantum-theoretical research, the industrialisation and commercialisation of these revolutionary technologies remain the terrain of conquest, mainly for the United States and China. The paradox of a continent that produces cutting-edge knowledge but struggles to turn it into market leadership is not new, but in the quantum sector, it takes on particularly critical strategic dimensions.
The four pillars of an announced revolution
The European quantum strategy does not come out of nowhere but follows a path already mapped out by the European Declaration on the strategic importance of quantum technologies. The architecture of the plan is built around four main strands that reveal the multidimensional nature of the challenge. First, the strengthening of technological sovereignty aims to reduce dependence on non-European suppliers for critical components such as quantum processors and ultra-secure communication systems. This element represents the geopolitical heart of the strategy at a time when access to advanced technologies is becoming an instrument of pressure in international relations. The second pillar provides for the integration of research and development programmes at the continental level to avoid the fragmentation of national efforts.
This is a necessary response to the dispersion of resources that has historically weakened Europe’s ability to compete with more coordinated ecosystems such as the US or China. The development of shared infrastructures constitutes the third founding element, with the aim of building pan-European platforms for quantum computing and hardware production. Democratised access to new-generation computing resources is, in fact, a multiplier of innovation for companies and research centres. Finally, the concrete implementation of the European Declaration on Quantum Technologies signed in 2024 closes the circle, turning political commitments into coordinated actions. This document, signed by several Member States, laid the foundations for concerted action that the quantum strategy must now translate into operational reality.
A crucial test for European autonomy
The new Commissioner for Technology, Henna Virkkunen, has made the quantum strategy one of her top priorities, echoing Ursula von der Leyen’s emphasis on this ‘frontier technology’. This is not just institutional rhetoric: the economic projections in the Draghi report speak of a potential impact of up to EUR 850 billion over the next 15 to 30 years. This value does not represent an abstract figure, but the result of concrete applications ranging from the discovery of new drugs to the advanced management of financial portfolios, from post-quantum IT security to the design of innovative materials. Sectors in which Europe could build lasting competitive advantages, provided it effectively coordinates resources and vision. The real challenge, however, goes beyond the technical or economic dimension.
The quantum strategy is an institutional testbed for the European Union, which is called upon to prove that the EU model can also work in frontier technologies. Success will depend on Member States’ ability to overcome traditional national resistance to act as a united bloc, pooling not only funding but also expertise and strategic infrastructure. The European Commission has lucidly identified the system’s weakness: ‘The EU is strong in the early stages of research, but often finds it difficult to expand, commercialise and disseminate it worldwide. The quantum strategy is an opportunity to break this vicious circle and show that Europe can transform scientific primacy into technological and industrial leadership. At stake is not just the future of technology, however revolutionary: there is the possibility of building a truly sovereign Europe in the digital age, capable of self-determining its own technological destiny. The answer to this challenge will determine the geopolitical relevance of the continent in the coming decades.
