LIVE BLOG: Europe and the push for technology sovereignty

If Europe wants to get stronger in early-stage, disruptive “deeptech”, it needs to do a better job in helping researchers, innovators, investors and others find each other faster and easier, said participants in a special Science|Business workshop on deeptech.

“An ecosystem is key” for innovators to find one another, said Matthias Kaiserswerth, managing director of Hasler Stiftung, a Swiss foundation supporting ICT innovation and education. He said large companies are good at “optimising” technologies and could help small start-ups grow faster – but first need a good network system to find them.

"Whatever offerings they have as a large enterprise, they incrementally improve,” he said. "But they have actually a challenge that I’ve seen in really bringing new things to market. The reason for that is when you have a new thing that you want to bring to market, it typically at the beginning is not a big thing: Whether something is disruptive or not, you only know after the fact.” But the startup ecosystem is good at “doing experiments in the market,” he said. “Startups can go belly up when things don't work, maybe the technology survives and another startup picks it up."

Likewise, said Marijn de Wever, CEO of Floww, a London-based fintech firm, Europe needs better platforms for venture capitals and other investors to connect with entrepreneurs, and share information about them in a secure environment. De Wever added that European startups need to do a better job of protecting their IP "In the U.S. building up your IP portfolio is a natural thing to do as part of your company. But over here its not something that’s part of the culture, almost, and people are quite open about it and sharing ideas, and don’t actually get in to the state of protecting their technology,” he said.

And Kathrin Brenker, CEO of a German optogenetics startup, Optobiolab, called the funding landscape in Europe “a jungle if you’re a young startup.” She said EU programmes should make it easier for startups to get extended, longer-term funding – but what’s also needed is better networking systems to find private co-funders. “It would be nice if we had a higher organisational structure to tell startups where to go,” she said.

"I think we could have a better awareness that you can actually protect your IP and you need to do that at particular stages of your company." 

In general, said Cinzia Da Via, a University of Manchester physics professor, for Europe to have more technology sovereignty it must focus more effectively on deeptech, “the bottom up, blue-sky wide creative and open process which allows ‘curiosity-driven science’ today to be the ‘breakthrough technology’ of tomorrow.” It must also  “focus on becoming a global leader in technological and economic innovation – not just in regulating the socio-economical, legal and ethical aspects of it.”

German MEP Christian Ehler told the opening plenary of the Science|Business conference that the European Parliament will not accept the EU leaders’ budget deal without a higher budget for research and innovation.

Even if the deal is not agreed until the end of December, it will be reached this year, Ehler assured. He also said the European Commission should be ready to start the new budget cycle despite a tight deadline in the run up to 2021 because the Horizon Europe framework has been agreed on in advance.

The parliament is currently negotiating a budget increase for the EU’s next research programme, Horizon Europe, and other EU programmes with the commission and the council.

In the opening session of the conference, EU research commissioner Mariya Gabriel warned that Europe cannot be naïve in the global technology race and must preserve its own capacities and value chains.

“Europe First because we need to protect our citizens, pay attention to our SMEs and industries. We can’t be too naïve; it’s a competition,” said Gabriel. 

The Commissioner, however, cautioned that the EU will still seek cooperation with “like minded partners”. 

“There is no sovereignty versus cooperation. There is sovereignty plus cooperation,” she said.

The commissioner said the EU’s Horizon Europe R&D programme will still work to ensure researchers and entrepreneurs in the EU have “access to the best knowledge and networks” in the world. She said the EU will still invite selected non-EU countries to join Horizon Europe. “Its important that we put an accent on technology sovereignty and at the same time this goes hand in hand with cooperation…with like-minded partners.”

In pre-recorded interview with Science|Business, Ilham Kadri, the CEO of Belgian chemical company Solvay, warned that taking a strict protectionist approach to technology could endanger the EU’s place in the global market.

“Any reindustrialisation of supply chains related to a protectionist interpretation of technological sovereignty could reinforce the trend towards economic nationalism and deprive European companies of their international business space,” said Kadri. Instead, the CEO of the leading chemicals producer urged EU policymakers to prioritise competitiveness and innovation, thus creating more resilient and diverse European supply chains.

The whole issue of technology sovereignty has soared up EU policy agendas, in reaction to the problems Europe encountered this spring in sourcing medical equipment from China and elsewhere in the world. The German government, leading the EU Council this half-year, has made the issue one of its priorities – pushing forward a series of new initiatives to boost EU competitiveness in artificial intelligence, cloud computing, electronics manufacturing and vaccine production and other technologies.

The COVID-19 crisis has exposed how reliant Europe is on global supply chains, in turn showing that the EU cannot solely rely on its own technology. “It’s unrealistic to design and produce all components of a product or use only European technology,” said Kadri.

This means for its own prosperity, the EU, a role model for a rules-based trade, must act on a global level to ensure a balance in the market by adjusting its policies to the new reality and expanding its geopolitical influence.

“The EU needs to respond to foreign protectionism without becoming protectionist itself and serving protectionist interests,” argued Kadri.

The video interview with Kadri will be published today on www.sciencebusiness.net at 16:00 Brussels time.