EU launches new pact on quantum technologies

9 months ago 35

To ensure the EU’s leading role in quantum technologies, the Spanish Presidency coordinated a joint declaration on quantum technology on Wednesday (6 December).

Spain presented the Quantum Pact during the Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council (TTE) Council in a last-minute move, following fears the announcement might have to be postponed.

The initiative is intended to make “Europe the ‘quantum valley’ of the world, the leading region globally for quantum excellence and innovation,” the declaration reads.

The quantum pact is meant as an umbrella to coordinate all quantum-related initiatives on EU, national, and regional levels to build a quantum technology ecosystem.

“Quantum technologies will play a strategic role for our EU scientific & industrial competitiveness,” Commissioner Thierry Breton wrote on X on Thursday.

So far, 11 EU nations have endorsed the quantum pact, including France, Belgium, Croatia, Greece, Finland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Malta, Estonia and Spain. However, leading countries in quantum technology, like Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark, decided not to join the initiative.

“Although the pact is a step in the right direction, the lack of support demonstrates that Europe still doesn’t perceive quantum as a strategic priority,” Andrea Rodríguez, lead digital policy analyst at the European Policy Centre, told Euractiv.

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EU Quantum Leaders

One year ago, France, Germany, and the Netherlands signed a joint statement to collaborate in quantum technologies. The joint statement aimed to enhance synergies between these national ecosystems and become more attractive to the international quantum talent pool.

While Spain and Sweden are launching their quantum national strategies, only the Netherlands, Germany, France, Denmark, and Ireland currently have one in place. Four of them have not signed the recent quantum declaration.

“An example of this is that only 5/27 countries have national quantum strategies, and while at least 16 countries have dedicated funding schemes for quantum technologies, quantum is largely perceived as an R&D issue,” Rodríguez added.

Ireland announced its national quantum technologies strategy last month, announcing the vision that “[by] 2030, Ireland is an internationally competitive hub in quantum technologies.”

Denmark launched its strategy for quantum research and innovation in June, pleading for one billion Danish Krone (€134,000). It also added an update to it in September to include the support of the Danish quantum ecosystem.

Denmark will also host the new NATO Centre for Quantum Technologies, including a test centre facility, laboratory, accelerator site and an incubator.

Two years ago, Germany announced its plan to invest €2 billion into quantum technologies until 2026. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) pledged €1.1 billion until 2025 for the research and development of quantum computers.

In May, Germany announced its new “Quantum Technologies Action Concept” to lead in quantum technology, aiming to catch up with China and the United States. Further development is funded with a budget amounting to approximately €2.18 billion.

Last year, France started its national quantum research and development strategy with a budget of 150 million euros over five years until 2027.

The first country to introduce its national quantum plan was the Netherlands in 2019, a system that prioritises the creation of a national industrial ecosystem instead of research leadership.