European Quantum Strategy

What is the European Quantum Strategy?

The European Commission formally released its policy communication entitled “Quantum Europe Strategy: Quantum Europe in a Changing World” on 2 July 2025, under the official reference COM(2025) 363 final. Addressed to the European Parliament and the Council, the document is an official expression of the Commission’s policy position and strategic intent.

The Strategy focuses on five interconnected areas:

1. Research and Innovation: Consolidating excellence across Europe to lead in quantum science and its industrial transformation.

2. Quantum Infrastructures: Developing scalable, coordinated infrastructure hubs to support production, design, and application development.

3. Strengthening the Quantum Ecosystem: through investments in startups and scaleups, securing supply chains and the industrialisation of quantum technologies.

4. Space and Dual-Use Quantum Technologies (Security and Defence): Integrating secure, sovereign quantum capabilities into Europe’s space, security and defence strategies.

5. Quantum Skills: Building a diverse, world-class workforce through coordinated education, training, and talent mobility across the EU.

The designation “COM(2025) 363 final” reflects the standard codification used within the Commission’s document registration system. The prefix “COM” denotes that the text is a Commission communication. The sequence number “363” identifies its chronological placement within the Commission’s annual output for 2025. The attribute “final” signifies that the document represents the authoritative and definitive version adopted and transmitted to the legislative institutions. The inclusion of the place and date (Brussels, 2.7.2025) indicates the formal moment of adoption.

The strategy puts quantum technologies within the broader framework of the Union’s strategic autonomy agenda. It defines the Commission’s interpretation of the policy challenges, sets out its intended regulatory and legislative pathways, and guides action at Union and Member State level. The Communication outlines the conceptual foundations for forthcoming legislative measures, including the anticipated European Quantum Act.

Do Commission communications constitute “EU Policy”?

A Communication from the European Commission, even when addressed to the European Parliament and the Council, does not have binding legal force. It is not a legislative act, and it does not create enforceable rights or obligations. In the hierarchy of EU instruments, a Communication belongs to the category of soft law. It expresses the Commission’s policy intentions, strategic priorities, and planned regulatory direction. In this sense, it is EU policy of the Commission, not EU policy in the strict institutional sense, which requires the involvement of the Union’s colegislators.

With this communication, the European Commission:

1. Defines the problem and sets the agenda.

2. Signals the forthcoming legislative package.

3. Invites the Council and Parliament to react, endorse, or challenge its direction.

The Communication acts as a precursor to binding acts, which must later require approval by the Parliament and the Council.

The European Parliament does not adopt, amend, or reject a Communication. It may issue resolutions supporting or criticising the strategy. It may demand changes in legislative proposals that follow. It ultimately acts as a colegislator when binding legislation (like the European Quantum Act) is proposed.

The Council does not vote on or amend a Communication. It may issue Council Conclusions that formally respond to or shape the interpretation of the strategy. It is a colegislator for any future regulation or directive that operationalises the strategy. It may request modifications, clarifications, or an adjusted regulatory approach.

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Understanding the European Quantum Strategy

The first words of the strategy: "Europe is a quantum continent. From iconic forerunners such as Max Planck, Albert Einstein Niels Bohr, and Erwin Schrödinger, to current day pioneers and Nobel Prize laureates like Theodor Haensch, Albert Fert, Serge Haroche, Anton Zeilinger, Alain Aspect and Anne L’Huillier, Europe has always been the place of quantum science."

This rhetorical framing is not incidental. Starting with the legacy of foundational figures such as Max Planck, Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr, and Erwin Schrödinger, and drawing a direct line to contemporary Nobel honoured pioneers, among them Theodor Haensch, Albert Fert, Serge Haroche, Anton Zeilinger, Alain Aspect, and Anne L’Huillier, the Commission is presenting Europe as the birthplace, steward, and ongoing custodian of quantum science, asking for historical continuity and scientific inheritance.

This emotional opening reinforces the legitimacy of the Union’s ambition to assume global leadership in quantum technologies. The Commission asserts that Europe’s past achievements impose a present obligation to ensure that quantum innovation, industrialisation, and governance remain anchored within European values and pursued under European leadership.

While the Strategy subsequently transitions into the formal language of policy analysis, regulatory intent, and governance design, this opening elevates the Strategy beyond a purely technical document and positions it within a long row of scientific achievement. It strengthens the political narrative for coordinated EU action and provides a compelling justification for the scale of investment, legislative intervention, and strategic ambition that the remainder of the document proposes.

In the strategy, we read that advances in quantum science represent some of the most transformative developments in technological history. By situating quantum technologies within the highest tier of disruptive innovations, the Commission establishes the basis for extraordinary regulatory attention, investment mobilisation, and cross sectoral governance reform. Quantum technologies are a top priority, together with semiconductors, artificial intelligence, and high performance computing. Developments in these areas affect economic competitiveness, but also national security and technological sovereignty.

The reference to the Draghi Report is important. The Report’s characterisation of quantum as “the next trailblazing innovation in the computing field” indicates the structural shift quantum computing is expected to generate. In policy terms, this establishes quantum technologies as a field in which the Union cannot rely solely on market dynamics or incremental regulatory adaptation. It must adopt a proactive, coordinated, and anticipatory approach, consistent with the emerging doctrine of technological sovereignty.

The Strategy’s reliance on the Draghi assessment aligns the Commission’s position with an influential independent analysis commissioned by the European Council, strengthening the legitimacy and political mandate of the Strategy. It also embeds quantum technologies within the broader narrative of Europe’s need to eliminate structural dependencies, prevent strategic leakage of critical capabilities, and ensure that future technological infrastructures remain under European control.

The Strategy’s acknowledgement that Europe is “currently lagging behind in translating its innovation capabilities and future potential into real market opportunities” is a very important diagnostic statement. In policy terms, this admission is the justification for enhanced intervention, signalling structural deficiencies that market forces alone have been unable to remedy.

The reference to Europe ranking only third globally in patents related to quantum computing, sensing, and communication, underscores a critical asymmetry between scientific excellence and commercial deployment. Europe’s academic institutions and research bodies remain dominant contributors to foundational quantum science, but this scientific leadership has not translated into equivalent industrial or technological leadership. Patent performance indicates that Europe has fallen behind other jurisdictions.

The observation signals a strategic vulnerability in the global contest for technological sovereignty. Patents are important for control over standards, supply chains, and future strategic dependencies. A weak patent position is a disadvantage for European companies. This undermines the Union’s autonomy in quantum enabled technologies, and next generation computing infrastructures.

This part of the Strategy establishes the normative foundation for the more interventionist measures proposed later in the document. By demonstrating a measurable gap in market translation, the Commission legitimises the need for coordinated industrial policy, unified certification schemes, shared pilot lines, strategic public investment, and expanded regulatory support structures. The patent gap becomes, in effect, the basis for the Strategy’s claim that Europe must act decisively to prevent a long term erosion of competitiveness and to preserve its ability to shape quantum technologies, not depending on external providers.

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The European Quantum Act

According to the Strategy, "The Quantum Europe Research and Innovation Initiative will be implemented through an EU-level governance framework, which will be defined in the forthcoming proposal for a Quantum Act."

The European Quantum Act is an important component of the Commission’s institutional design for quantum technologies. It signals a structural shift from a fragmented approach towards a unified legal architecture that governs quantum research, development, industrialisation, and deployment across the Union.

The reference to the Quantum Act is very significant. In EU legal practice, this signals the intention to create binding obligations, harmonised rules, and enforceable governance mechanisms. The implication is that the future Quantum Act will create a statutory framework that will serve two main purposes:

1. It will ensure that Member State actions are aligned with Union priorities, reducing duplication and preventing fragmentation.

2. It will establish a mechanism for regulatory authority, enabling the Commission, together with the colegislators, to define standards, mandate interoperability, impose certification obligations, and integrate quantum technologies into existing regulatory systems governing cybersecurity, privacy, export control, critical infrastructure, and dual-use technologies.

The explicit linkage to the Quantum Act indicates that the Commission intends to transform quantum policy from a strategic declaration into a legally binding regime. This has far reaching implications for operators, research institutions, and industrial actors. Once adopted, the Quantum Act will codify compliance duties, reporting obligations, risk management requirements, and security rules relating to access, export, and intellectual property protection. It will also provide legal predictability, essential for attracting private investment and enabling industry scale deployment.

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