How the EU Can Capture the Benefits of Quantum Computing

Europe’s Quantum Ambitions and Initiatives

The European Union has entered the global quantum race with determination – aiming not just to excel in research, but to translate breakthroughs into economic and strategic benefits. In July 2025, the European Commission unveiled the Quantum Europe Strategy, a roadmap to make Europe a “quantum industrial powerhouse” by 2030. This strategy acknowledges Europe’s historic strength in quantum science – from pioneers like Planck and Einstein to modern Nobel laureates like Zeilinger and Aspect – and notes that Europe today boasts the world’s largest pool of quantum researchers and startups. Yet European leaders also recognize a persistent gap: the EU has been “lagging behind in translating its innovation capabilities… into real market opportunities”. Over €11 billion in public funds have been invested in European quantum R&D in the past five years (via programs like the Quantum Flagship), but Europe still trails global competitors in patent output and in scaling startups to world-class companies. The Quantum Europe Strategy directly targets these shortcomings, centering on five pillars: advancing research “from lab to fab to market,” building cutting-edge quantum infrastructures (computers, communication networks, sensors), strengthening the startup ecosystem (from startups to scale-ups), developing space and defense-oriented quantum applications, and cultivating quantum skills across Europe. In short, the EU’s message is clear – Europe intends not only to lead in discovering quantum technologies, but also in deploying them for societal and economic gain.

Concrete actions are following this vision. In late 2025 the European Commission proposed an EU Quantum Act, a major legislative push to unify and amplify Europe’s quantum efforts. The envisioned Quantum Act has three primary objectives:

• boosting R&D (building on Europe’s strong scientific base with expanded funding and cross-border collaboration),
• scaling up industrial capacity (moving from lab prototypes to mass production via pilot manufacturing lines and a dedicated quantum chip design/fabrication facility), and
• securing the supply chain and governance (ensuring critical quantum components can be made in Europe, and coordinating efforts via new EU-level bodies or public-private partnerships).

In essence, it’s Europe’s quantum analogue to the Chips Act – seeking to create an integrated continental market and production base for quantum tech. The Act would build on existing initiatives like EuroHPC (Europe’s high-performance computing network) and EuroQCI (a planned secure Quantum Communication Infrastructure), linking quantum computing and communication with broader EU tech sovereignty drives. The European Commission opened a public consultation (“Have Your Say”) for the Quantum Act in late 2025, inviting input from stakeholders ranging from industry and startups to academia and defense.

This inclusive approach reflects the EU’s understanding that quantum technologies are “critical and dual-use”, affecting everything from cybersecurity to economic competitiveness. By aligning all 27 Member States behind a cohesive strategy and investing at scale, European policymakers hope to “create a vibrant quantum industry in Europe that rivals that in the US and China”. If adopted in 2026, the Quantum Act could bring substantial new funding (potentially billions of euros) and a long-term commitment through 2030 and beyond to make quantum tech a pillar of Europe’s digital future.

Alongside EU-wide strategies, individual European countries have launched ambitious national quantum programs that feed into the continental effort. Germany designated quantum tech a strategic priority, earmarking €2 billion for quantum research and industry as part of its 2020 stimulus package. By 2024 Germany had invested those funds across numerous projects – from basic science to startup support – and even partnered with IBM to open a Quantum Computation Center in Ehningen, hosting state-of-the-art IBM quantum systems on European soil. This gave German and EU researchers access to a 27-qubit machine, integrating global tech into Europe’s ecosystem while training local talent. Germany’s ongoing efforts include funding indigenous hardware (e.g. Infineon co-developing ion-trap processors with startup eleQtron) and establishing regional hubs in Munich, Ulm and elsewhere as hotbeds of quantum innovation.

France launched a €1.8 billion Quantum Plan in January 2021, spanning quantum computing, communications, cryptography, and sensing. Funded via the France Relance recovery plan and national innovation programs, the French strategy builds on a strong research legacy (from Nobel laureates like Haroche and Aspect to industry players like Atos). It aims to coordinate academia (CNRS, CEA, INRIA) and industry, develop quantum simulators and computers, and train a new generation of “quantum engineers”. By investing in enabling technologies (cryogenics, photonics, semiconductors) and domestic startups, France explicitly seeks to bolster its sovereignty in quantum tech as U.S. and Chinese firms surge ahead.

The Netherlands, for its part, positioned itself as a European quantum hotspot with the Quantum Delta NL program – securing €615 million in 2021 to build a “Silicon Valley of quantum” in Delft, Amsterdam, and Eindhoven. The Dutch have focused on quantum internet research (TU Delft’s QuTech led a breakthrough multi-node quantum network) and even launched Europe’s first public cloud quantum computing platform, Quantum Inspire, allowing users to run algorithms on Dutch-built superconducting and silicon-based qubit processors.

Smaller countries are contributing too: Finland partnered with local startup IQM to build its first quantum computer, achieving a 5-qubit device in 2022 and a 50-qubit superconducting system by 2025 in Espoo – one of Europe’s first at that scale. Finland’s project, backed by over €20 million in public funding, exemplifies how even mid-sized nations are pushing the envelope.

Austria, Italy, Spain, and others have likewise invested in quantum R&D (often in niche areas like photonic computing or quantum software), typically dovetailing with EU programs. And although Switzerland is outside the EU, its institutions (ETH Zurich, EPFL) and companies (e.g. ID Quantique) remain deeply integrated in Europe’s quantum network, illustrating the pan-European nature of this effort.

Crucially, Europe’s quantum push is not just about money – it’s about coordination and collaboration. The 2018 Quantum Technologies Flagship was a turning point: a €1 billion, 10-year program that brought together disparate academic projects under one umbrella. In its first 3-year phase, the Flagship supported 20 major projects and 5,000+ researchers across computing, communication, simulation, and metrology. Early Flagship milestones included prototypes like OpenSuperQ, a pan-European effort to build a 100-qubit superconducting computer at Jülich in Germany. The Flagship proved Europe can pool its strengths – over 50% of quantum science papers in the mid-2010s had European authors – and channel them toward shared goals. Today, the Flagship coordinates closely with initiatives like EuroHPC, which is integrating quantum accelerators into supercomputers across multiple EU countries. In 2023, the EU selected six sites (Germany, France, Italy, Czechia, Spain, Poland) to host the first EU-supported quantum computers, with €100+ million allocated and 17 countries participating in their development. These will be European-built or co-developed machines, housed at national supercomputing centers but networked via EuroHPC – a distributed approach that reflects the EU’s ethos of cross-border collaboration. Similarly, the planned EuroQCI will combine terrestrial fiber QKD networks with satellite links to form a secure quantum communication backbone spanning all 27 member states. By 2022, every EU country had signed on to EuroQCI, a testament to Europe’s commitment to collective security in the quantum era. This “collaborative, research-driven approach” is a defining feature of the European quantum effort.

The EU also emphasizes a “quantum-ready” workforce: programs like DigiQ and QTIndu (Quantum Technologies Industrial skills) aim to train thousands of students and professionals in quantum engineering, ensuring human capital doesn’t become a bottleneck. With the world’s largest share of quantum PhDs and scientific publications already coming out of Europe, nurturing talent is a logical area for the EU to double down.

Unmatched Research Strength – But a Commercialization Gap

For all of Europe’s scientific excellence and policy momentum, a critical question remains: can the EU turn its quantum research leadership into commercial success and tangible benefits for its economy and society?

This challenge is part of a broader innovation paradox long observed in Europe – the continent shines in deep-tech R&D but often struggles to commercialize breakthroughs. The numbers tell the story. Europe’s deep-tech sector (which includes quantum, AI, biotech, etc.) has an estimated €8 trillion potential, yet European startups receive far less growth funding than their U.S. counterparts, and comparatively few scale into global leaders.

In quantum computing specifically, nearly a quarter of the world’s quantum technology companies are based in Europe, and the EU produces a torrent of PhDs and research papers – more than any other region. Public investment has been lavish (as noted, upwards of €11 billion since 2018), and Europe was early to recognize quantum’s importance (the EU Quantum Manifesto in 2016 galvanized the Flagship). Yet when it comes to market outcomes, Europe lags. The U.S. has sprinted ahead in translating quantum research into startups, products, and investor excitement. American quantum firms like IonQ and Rigetti leapfrogged into public markets via SPAC mergers, raising substantial capital to build their quantum hardware. Tech giants IBM, Google, Microsoft and Amazon have poured resources into quantum R&D and started offering cloud quantum services, driving a perception that the cutting edge of quantum computing is unfolding largely in the U.S. China, meanwhile, has massively state-funded efforts and recorded its own milestones (like demonstrating a 100+ qubit superconducting processor and quantum advantage experiments). By comparison, Europe’s achievements – though significant in science – haven’t translated into the same level of commercial impact or global buzz.

A key factor is the funding gap for European quantum startups. Despite Europe’s public grants, private capital remains scarce for scaling deep-tech ventures. As of mid-2020s, Europe attracted just 5% of global private investment in quantum startups, whereas the U.S. drew about 50%. In a single recent year, U.S. private quantum investment tripled, while Europe’s fell by 40%. The result is that many promising EU quantum startups can raise seed funding locally, but then hit a wall when seeking the “mega-rounds” (tens or hundreds of millions) needed to build expensive hardware or expand globally. They often must turn to American or Asian venture funds to survive – or get acquired by non-European tech companies. This dynamic risks European IP and talent shifting overseas, effectively letting others capitalize on innovations originally born in EU labs. For example, several UK and EU quantum companies have been snapped up by U.S. and Asian firms in the past decade, and others have relocated R&D operations to access larger markets and investors. EU officials are acutely aware of this “valley of death” between lab and market. A joint European Patent Office & European Investment Bank study found three-quarters of deep-tech SMEs cite lack of finance and talent as major barriers, with European startups half as likely as U.S. ones to raise late-stage growth rounds. Estimates put Europe’s scale-up funding shortfall in the hundreds of billions of euros. In quantum, this shortfall is especially pronounced because building a quantum computer or deploying quantum networks is enormously capital-intensive, often requiring years of R&D burn before revenue. While American startups can tap larger pools of venture capital (or government contracts from agencies like the U.S. DoD), European founders have fewer options of comparable scale. This is why Europe’s quantum landscape, for all its breadth (Pasqal in France, IQM in Finland/Germany, Alice & Bob in Paris, Quandela in France, ORCA Computing in the UK, etc.), still lacks a home-grown giant on the order of an IBM or Google – or even a well-funded pure-play like IonQ.

Beyond funding, cultural and structural factors play a role. Europe’s innovation ecosystem has historically been more conservative and fragmented. Regulations, procurement rules, and market standards often differ across 27 countries, complicating a startup’s ability to scale EU-wide. Selling a new tech product in Europe might mean navigating multiple certification processes, languages, and bureaucracies – whereas U.S. startups can access a large unified market from day one. European venture capital has also been seen as more risk-averse, with smaller fund sizes and a tendency to favor cautious growth over blitzscaling.

Moreover, the academic roots of many European quantum efforts, while a strength in research, can slow commercialization. Many EU quantum startups spin out from university groups; their founders are brilliant scientists but often first-time entrepreneurs. It’s not uncommon for European quantum teams to prioritize technical perfection over speed, tinkering in the lab for years to get a system just right. By contrast, a Silicon Valley ethos might push a minimally viable prototype out to customers early, even if it’s rough, in order to iterate quickly and stake a market position. Some European quantum PhDs aim to get 99.9% fidelity in the lab before making a product, whereas an American startup might launch at 90% fidelity and improve on the fly. The risk is that by the time Europe’s impeccably engineered solution is market-ready, faster-moving competitors have locked in customers and standards. This dynamic is sometimes summarized as Europe’s “move slow and get it perfect” vs. America’s “move fast and break things” – a generalization, but one reflected in certain outcomes. Even European industry leaders recognize this: as QuIC (the European Quantum Industry Consortium) warned in a 2023 white paper, Europe could “lose its quantum edge” if it doesn’t close the investment and commercialization gap urgently. QuIC and others have urged Europe to foster a more risk-taking, entrepreneurial culture around quantum tech, lest the continent end up as a workshop for ideas that others profit from.

Bridging the Gap: Funding, Scale-Up, and Industry Growth

The good news is that Europe is taking steps to address these challenges. The EU’s new quantum initiatives explicitly focus on bridging the lab-to-market chasm. For instance, the Quantum Europe Strategy calls for stimulating more private co-investment – and indeed a European Quantum Investment Fund is being set up to inject capital into promising firms alongside venture investors. The idea is for public money to catalyze private capital, rather than just funding early research that later enriches foreign VCs. The EU is also supporting startups in scaling production: the Quantum Act proposal includes establishing pilot manufacturing lines for quantum chips and devices, so that a prototype from an EU lab can be turned into a product without needing to go to a Silicon Valley foundry. Ensuring a full “quantum supply chain” in Europe – from the hardware components and cryogenic systems up to software and cloud platforms – is seen as strategic. As the European Commission notes, many key components for quantum systems still have to be imported, a strategic vulnerability in the sovereignty context. By investing in indigenous capacity (for example, building cryostats, single-photon sources, or quantum-grade semiconductors in Europe), the EU aims to both secure its tech autonomy and create new high-tech industries at home. This mirrors the approach taken in the EU Chips Act (for semiconductors) but applied to quantum: jump-start local production to reduce reliance on non-EU suppliers. The planned quantum pilot lines and fabrication facilities would give European startups access to manufacturing infrastructure that individual small companies could never afford alone – thus clearing a major hurdle in scaling up hardware.

Another prong is improving the financing landscape for later-stage startups. The European Innovation Council (EIC) has launched a Scale-Up Fund to provide growth capital to deep-tech firms that have moved beyond prototypes. National promotional banks (like Bpifrance or KfW in Germany) are also increasing their support of deep-tech. Policymakers are looking at incentives to unlock more local private money – for example, encouraging Europe’s large pension and insurance funds to allocate a greater portion of their € trillions into venture and growth equity. Currently, such institutional capital in Europe is often more conservatively invested, unlike in the U.S. where pension funds contribute significantly to VC pools. The EU could consider tax breaks or co-investment programs to entice these big investors into backing quantum and other deep-tech startups. By boosting the available domestic capital, European startups would be less forced to court foreign investors or acquirers for survival. Reducing fragmentation is another crucial strategy: Europe is working to harmonize regulations and create true pan-European markets for emerging tech. This might include an EU-wide sandbox or “one-stop” regulatory framework for quantum companies, so a startup doesn’t have to get separate approvals in every country to deploy a quantum encryption system, for instance. Streamlining standards and certifications across the single market will help new quantum products scale faster without bureaucratic delays. The EU Quantum Act is anticipated to reinforce such coordination – essentially treating Europe as one market for quantum technology, which is key for achieving the necessary scale.

Just as important as money and rules is mindset and talent. Europe needs more quantum entrepreneurs who think globally and commercially from the start. This doesn’t mean abandoning Europe’s quality-first approach, but rather complementing it with agility. Successful founders often pair deep technical knowledge with savvy storytelling and business strategy. European startups are being encouraged to engage with end-users early, even if their tech is still maturing – for example, working with pharmaceutical companies now to explore quantum chemistry use cases, or running pilot projects with banks on quantum-safe cryptography. Early customer engagement forces a startup to refine its value proposition and develop market-ready solutions, not just elegant lab experiments. We’re already seeing a positive shift: several European quantum startups did raise €100+ million rounds in 2023-2024 (e.g. France’s Pasqal and Finland’s IQM), some with participation from European growth funds. These larger rounds indicate that if the ecosystem matures and capital is available, European firms can stay and grow. Programs to nurture entrepreneurial skills among scientists are expanding – many universities now have incubators or “entrepreneur-in-residence” schemes for quantum PhDs, helping them learn how to pitch, form companies, and navigate the startup world. At the same time, a cultural change is underway to celebrate innovation and tolerate failure more. In the U.S., a failed startup is often seen as a learning experience; Europe has traditionally stigmatized failure more, but this is easing with high-profile success stories and active promotion of startup role models. EU policymakers have even talked about launching campaigns to “normalize entrepreneurial risk” – highlighting cases of founders who failed on their first try but succeeded later, to drive home that risk-taking is part of innovation. By chipping away at the fear of failure, Europe hopes to unleash more bold ventures in quantum and beyond.

Finally, the EU can leverage its own biggest customer to spur the quantum industry: the public sector. Government procurement and partnerships can provide vital early markets for quantum technologies. The EU is already doing this by integrating quantum computers into public high-performance computing centers (ensuring there will be paying users for those systems). Likewise, as the EuroQCI network comes online, European telecom providers and quantum communication startups will benefit from contracts to build and operate segments of this secure network. If European governments (and the EU institutions) prioritize buying European-developed quantum solutions – be it QKD systems for diplomatic communications or quantum sensors for infrastructure monitoring – that will both fortify sovereignty and give local firms reference projects to then win business abroad. In essence, public money must be a catalyst for private innovation across the entire lifecycle, not just at the lab prototype stage. The EU’s challenge is to deploy its substantial resources in ways that encourage a self-sustaining quantum ecosystem, where startups can find funding, talent, customers, and support within Europe, rather than having to leave to achieve scale. Europe must act with urgency and invest as much effort in business innovation as in technical innovation. The next few years – with new EU funding programs (like a planned €1.4 billion for deep-tech scale-ups under the STEP initiative) and the possible Quantum Act – will be pivotal in determining whether Europe’s quantum startups evolve into global champions or remain minor players.

Sovereign Optionality: Balancing Autonomy and Global Collaboration

Amid this drive to build Europe’s quantum industry, one theme consistently emerges: technological sovereignty. European leaders frequently stress the need for “strategic autonomy” in critical technologies, quantum computing included. The motivation is understandable. Quantum breakthroughs are poised to influence economic and national security; no region wants to be entirely dependent on foreign powers for such strategic capabilities. The EU’s quantum strategy explicitly aims to foster a “resilient, sovereign quantum ecosystem”, and officials talk of ensuring Europe is not a mere consumer of others’ quantum tech, but a co-leader who can set its own standards and secure its supply chains. This has led to a “sovereignty-first” approach in some EU policies – for instance, investing in European quantum chips, cryogenics, and software to avoid reliance on U.S. or Chinese vendors. We see it too in measures like tighter export controls: the EU (and UK) have added certain quantum technologies to their controlled items list, aiming to prevent critical know-how from leaking to adversaries. The flipside is encouraging European projects to keep key IP and talent at home, perhaps through conditions on grant funding or vetting of foreign acquisitions. In short, Europe is serious about not being left a “quantum have-not” in a world where others dominate – a sentiment born from hindsight of how Europe lost ground in past tech waves like the internet and AI.

However, quantum technology is inherently global – built on decades of open science and international collaboration. No single country or region, not even the US or China, can “go it alone” easily in quantum. Breakthroughs often arise from cross-border teams, and talent is highly mobile. As one policy analyst cautioned, “No country can firewall its way to leadership in a field where progress is built on international collaboration, knowledge flows, and shared standards.” Europe, of all places, knows the value of cooperation: its whole approach internally has been to join forces across nations. This suggests the EU’s sovereignty push must be balanced with openness and partnerships – a concept we might call “sovereign optionality.” In the context of quantum computing, sovereign optionality means Europe should indeed develop indigenous quantum capabilities (to have the sovereign option to rely on itself when needed), while also engaging deeply with a network of allies and global initiatives so it’s never isolated from the best ideas and innovations. Practically, this could mean fostering European champions and welcoming collaboration with, say, American cloud providers or Japanese hardware teams, depending on the circumstance. It means building Europe’s own quantum encryption technologies, and also contributing actively to international standards for interoperability. By maintaining a diverse set of partnerships, Europe keeps its options open – it can choose the best technology (domestic or foreign) for a given application, and it can ensure access to critical capabilities even if geopolitical winds shift. An excellent example is the IBM-Fraunhofer partnership in Germany: Europe didn’t have a large superconducting quantum computer of its own in 2021, so it brought in IBM’s, but under terms that gave European researchers full access and experience on the system. This accelerated skills development on European soil, essentially “importing” capability in a sovereign-friendly way. Now, a few years later, European-built machines (like IQM’s 54-qubit processor or Pasqal’s 100+ atom quantum simulator) are coming online, which the EU can prioritize going forward – but that early boost from collaboration was invaluable.

In international fora, the EU likewise positions itself as a trustworthy, multilateral player. Unlike the U.S.-China rivalry where cooperation is minimal, Europe can serve as a bridge – partnering in quantum research with the United States, Canada, Japan, and others through projects and MOUs, while also engaging (cautiously) with China in scientific dialogue (for example, European and Chinese scientists have co-published quantum research, and EU companies have testbeds with Chinese partners in QKD). Being seen as a neutral, values-driven partner is an EU advantage. Many smaller countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America might be more comfortable aligning with European quantum initiatives (e.g. standards development or education programs) than with one of the superpowers. The EU has already championed global cooperation in areas like climate and vaccine research; a similar approach in quantum could expand Europe’s influence. We might soon see, for instance, European-led efforts to create common criteria for quantum cryptography, or joint EU-U.S. funding calls to support quantum startup exchange programs. Maintaining “optional alliances” ensures that if one source of technology is cut off (due to export restrictions or political tensions), Europe has alternatives. It also increases Europe’s leverage – being able to pivot between partners and assert its own requirements.

This approach was articulated in my recent “Quantum Sovereign Optionality” article, which argued that Europe’s optimal path is to secure independent quantum capabilities at home and cultivate a web of partnerships abroad, rather than a purely insular path. Europe’s own experts echo this: the EU’s goal should not be autarky in every quantum tech, but “sustained access to key capabilities, through ecosystems, partnerships, and shared knowledge.” Not all quantum applications will be strategic; in some cases buying a solution from a friendly country might be fine, in others Europe will insist on a sovereign tool. The emphasis should be on resilience and choice – having the capacity to go it alone if absolutely necessary, but reaping the benefits of co-development whenever possible. After all, even the largest EU economies cannot match U.S. or Chinese spending dollar-for-dollar, but by pooling together and working with allies, they can punch above their weight.

Europe’s regulatory philosophy also reflects this balanced stance. The EU leads in setting standards and ethics for emerging tech (GDPR for privacy, the upcoming AI Act for artificial intelligence), and it’s likely to do so for quantum as well. That doesn’t mean imposing heavy restrictions that isolate Europe’s market; rather, it means defining guidelines to ensure security and interoperability that others may adopt too. For example, the EU is actively promoting post-quantum cryptography (PQC) standards – in 2025 it published a roadmap calling for all member states to begin transitioning to quantum-safe encryption by 2026, with critical infrastructure to be fully post-quantum by 2030. This proactive move not only protects European networks but also sets a bar that could influence global cybersecurity norms. Similarly, Europe is considering certification frameworks for quantum devices (to ensure they meet safety and security criteria), and exploring export controls on sensitive quantum tech (to prevent proliferation to hostile regimes). By crafting sensible regulations early, the EU can shape how quantum tech is used in accordance with democratic values – while still engaging with others. In fact, international collaboration will be needed to avoid a patchwork of quantum standards. Europe’s concept of “open strategic autonomy” captures this nuance: striving for the capacity to act autonomously when needed, but remaining open with partners by default. We have already seen Europe and the U.S. aligning on certain tech principles via the Trade and Technology Council (TTC); quantum is on the agenda there for cooperation on standards and terminology. Such efforts can ensure that, say, an EU-made quantum sensor can plug into an American system or that EU and U.S. approaches to PQC are interoperable.

In summary, “sovereign optionality” for the EU means having its cake and eating it too – investing so that Europe could stand on its own in quantum computing if it had to, but otherwise leveraging alliances to advance faster than it could alone. As a recent policy critique noted, Europe should “embrace openness, build on comparative strengths, and invest in talent… as the foundation for a more connected and credible technological future.” In a field like quantum, where no one has all the answers, Europe’s collaborative spirit can be a competitive advantage, not a weakness. The balance to strike is avoiding overreliance on any single external supplier (be it Big Tech or a foreign power) by nurturing homegrown options, yet not falling into isolation or duplication of effort that ignores the global nature of science. The EU appears intent on this balanced approach. By doubling down on being a trusted partner – both internally among member states and externally with allies – Europe can secure a strong position in the quantum era.

Charting a Quantum-Ready Future for Europe

As the quantum revolution accelerates, the European Union stands at a crossroads with enormous opportunity at hand. The pieces for success are all there: world-class researchers, innovative startups, substantial public funding, and a policy vision that marries scientific excellence with industrial ambition. Europe’s challenge is to align these strengths, remedy the weak spots, and execute with urgency. The next decade will determine whether the EU captures the high-value benefits of quantum computing – from new industries and jobs to more secure communications and improved healthcare – or whether it falls behind and becomes reliant on others’ technology. The ambitious strategies unfolding now – the Quantum Europe Strategy, the upcoming Quantum Act, national quantum programs, and extensive investments in skills and infrastructure – show that Europe is serious about not missing this wave.

There is reason for optimism. Europe has done it before in other sectors (consider aerospace with Airbus or the success of the European Space Agency). In quantum tech, we already see European companies and researchers achieving milestones that compete globally: a French startup building a 100+ qubit neutral-atom processor, a Finnish lab delivering a 50-qubit machine, Austrian physicists leading quantum encryption experiments, and pan-European consortia shaping the future of quantum internet protocols. Europe also continues to generate talent – it is producing more PhDs than it can currently absorb, which, if harnessed, can become an engine for innovation. By creating a supportive ecosystem that spans from lab to market, the EU can keep these bright minds in Europe, turning breakthrough papers into products made in Europe. The alignment of EU-wide resources with national initiatives is particularly promising. If the Quantum Act succeeds in knitting together efforts and funding across the Union, fragmentation will give way to synergy – much as the ESA pooled countries’ space efforts to make Europe a space power, a coordinated quantum effort could elevate the whole region.

Crucially, Europe doesn’t seek dominance in isolation; it seeks a leading role through cooperation and values. By prioritizing cybersecurity (e.g. mandating post-quantum encryption), privacy, and ethical tech use, the EU is shaping the quantum revolution in line with the public interest. These are benefits beyond GDP numbers – they speak to the quality of the quantum future Europe is trying to build. An EU where government services use quantum encryption means citizens’ data stays secure from even the most powerful computers; an EU where hospitals use quantum-derived drug discovery means patients benefit from cures sooner. Capturing the benefits of quantum computing thus spans economic gains and societal resilience.

Still, time is of the essence. Other regions are racing ahead, and quantum technology will not wait. Europe must combine its public investments with a culture of bold entrepreneurship, adopt policies that crowd-in private investment, and embrace a bit more risk-taking. It must remain open to global collaboration, leveraging its unique position as a partner trusted for its rule-of-law and stability. By doing so, Europe can occupy a central place in the emerging quantum economy, ensuring its businesses and citizens reap the rewards. In a way, Europe’s quantum journey exemplifies a broader truth: scientific leadership is only half the equation – the other half is turning that science into innovations that reach people’s lives. If Europe succeeds, it will not only have secured its technological sovereignty and economic future, but it will also have demonstrated a model of international cooperation in an era often defined by tech rivalries. The EU’s proactive stance – from funding and laws to standards and diplomacy – shows that it intends to be a shaper, not just a spectator, of the quantum age. By capturing the benefits of quantum computing on its own terms, Europe can help ensure this transformative technology arrives in a way that upholds the values of openness, security, and shared prosperity.