The upcoming Quantum Act is expected to help boost research and innovation, strengthen Europe’s industrial capacity and improve the resilience of the quantum supply chain.

European policymakers, business personalities and investors gathered at the European Parliament last week for high-level discussions about the next phase of the bloc’s quantum development.

The panels touched on areas surrounding the development and sustainability of quantum technology in the bloc, with speakers noting that the region needs to translate its scientific expertise in the sector into industrial leadership that can be deployed across the single market.

The event – ‘Europe’s Quantum Moment: From Lab to Leadership’ – was hosted by MEP Dr Sergey Lagodinsky, and looked at how the bloc can bring together scientists, engineers and start-ups to transform and scale opportunities in the quantum sector into commercial capacity comparable to the US, which is already investing hundreds of millions in this type of technology.

Between 2020 and 2025, the EU invested some €2bn in quantum technologies, complemented by around €9bn in additional funding from member states. In comparison, the US spent $2bn in federal incentives a few months ago to support two domestic quantum foundry companies and seven quantum computing companies, including IBM.

Speakers at last week’s event noted that Europe already has a strong base to build on, with research groups and companies active across areas including quantum computing, sensing, photonics, cryogenics and software.

The bloc also has an established footing in this sector, with around 80pc of the components in European quantum computers coming from the bloc, a speaker said.

Europe has a number of up-and-coming quantum businesses, including Ireland’s Equal1, which raised $60m in January, Switzerland-based Zuriq, which raised a seed funding round of $25.5m in July, and Finland’s IQM Quantum Computers, which, earlier this year, became the first European quantum computing company to list on a major US stock exchange.

But despite the potential and significant funding from the EU and its member states, Europe’s quantum research remains fragmented across member states, resulting in duplication, gaps in priority areas and competition for scarce talents, according to an EU policy document from last year, which also noted that without coordination and a clear focus on shared strategic priorities, Europe will fall short of its quantum ambitions.

“You talk to scientists and they will tell you nothing is ready and a quantum computer is still 25 years away. You talk to some American media, and they say it’s for tomorrow. So, what is the reality then? How do we position ourselves?” said Thomas Skordas, the deputy director-general of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology.

“The reality is that, of course, we still need a lot of work, but we also see a super-emerging quantum ecosystem, not only in computing, but also in communications and in sensors, where some of the more mature markets are found today.”

The upcoming Quantum Act is expected to help boost research and innovation, strengthen Europe’s industrial capacity and improve the resilience of the quantum supply chain.

The EU has already begun supporting deep-tech companies in the region with its new €5bn Scaleup Europe Fund, which officially launched last month. The fund has already backed Swedish AI vibe-coding start-up Lovable and Finnish space intelligence start-up Iceye.

Budgeting, however, isn’t the only solution, according to Skordas. “What the act will provide is the stimulus to make sure that we move in the right direction, that we bring people together,” he noted.

Quantum technologies require levels of capital and fabrication and testing facilities that EU member states acting alone cannot always provide. Meanwhile, experts also worry that a lack of coordination between states will lead to duplication, unequal access and concentration of quantum capabilities in Europe’s more advanced countries.

“We cannot afford having 78 start-ups all on their own,” said Skordas. “We don’t have Microsoft, we don’t have Google, we don’t have IBM … We want competition, but at some stage, we expect a little bit of consolidation”.

Skordas stressed that fragmentation between technologies also needs to be addressed. “Quantum has to be combined with semiconductors, photonics, the cloud industry, the end users and many other technologies that are more mature and can win new markets”, he said.

The Commission representative confirmed that the bloc hopes to present the new quantum policy by the end of the year. Although the process is still in its early stages, it might end up being postponed until next year, he added.

Talent acquisition was another aspect discussed at last week’s event.

“We need software engineers, we need photonics people, we need physics people, we need product managers, we need all sorts of different profiles,” said Prof Eleni Diamanti, the co-founder and chief scientific officer at the Paris-based quantum company Welinq and a research director at Sorbonne University.

“We need to make everything we can to bring this talent to Europe – for example, by giving opportunities and raising salaries.”

She added: “If we create global quantum champions in Europe, which is what I hope that is going to come out of the quantum act, then the talent will come. The talent goes where the global leaders are, not only where the money is.”

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