The Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, announced, at the Tallinn Digital Summit on Tuesday 5 September, that the European Commission was currently working on a “strategy“ to make the EU a leader in quantum technologies.
“By 2025, Europe will be the continent with the largest computing power in the world (...) Quantum technologies have the potential to completely change everything: from computing to cybersecurity, from communication to defence”, said Mr Breton, who wants to make the EU the “world quantum valley”.
The future strategy currently being developed should focus in particular on Quantum Computing, Quantum Communication, Quantum Sensing and Post Quantum Cryptography.
In addition, the French European Commissioner indicated that the European Commission was working on another telecommunications proposal to “put in place a new industrial approach to harness the strength of the single market in connectivity and support investment in the network infrastructure of the future in an efficient and timely manner”.
The issue of cybersecurity and infrastructure protection also came up several times, as did 5G networks, described as “essential” for the energy, transport and healthcare sectors.
On this point, the Commissioner for the Internal Market also called on the Member States to “take the necessary decisions to guarantee Europe’s resilience and avoid dependencies in a critical infrastructure” at a time when, on 15 June, the European Commission had imposed requirements aimed at restricting or totally excluding Chinese telecoms equipment manufacturers Huawei and ZTE from 5G networks within the EU (see EUROPE 13202/3). (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)