QOMPASS calls for a dedicated European Quantum Initiative

QOMPASS recommends a dedicated European Quantum Initiative within the Joint Undertaking architecture

In response to the European Commission’s Call for Evidence on “Horizon Europe – European Partnerships to be implemented as joint undertakings”, the QOMPASS consortium has published a position paper calling for the establishment of a dedicated European Quantum Initiative. The initiative would cover all quantum technology areas and be implemented through a dedicated and independent quantum governance track within the Joint Undertaking architecture, supported by a ring-fenced budget.

Read the position paper through this link QOMPASS, the Coordination and Support Action mandated to support the European Commission in coordinating the Quantum Flagship, argues that Europe must now build on its scientific excellence to strengthen its global industrial competitiveness. According to the position paper, Europe has reached an inflection point at which the current model of light-touch coordination is no longer sufficient to support industrial deployment at the scale required.

The consortium stresses that achieving this transition will require sustained alignment between the European Union, Member States, academia and the private sector. The key points are:

• The EU must provide single-market scale
• Member States must replace fragmented national funding and regulation with coordinated strategies; academia should accelerate technology transfer while sustaining excellence in frontier basic research
• The private sector must be structurally integrated to attract the venture and growth capital needed to move technologies from laboratory prototypes to industrial scale-up.

The forthcoming EU Quantum Act provides the legislative momentum needed to establish this structure. The European Commission’s review of European Partnerships is the moment to decide its institutional form.

Six principles for a European Quantum Initiative

The position paper sets out six principles that should guide the design of the initiative:

• Dedicated quantum governance and a ring-fenced budget, with the capacity to deploy the full range of instruments needed for industrialisation.
• A multi-actor strategic governance and advisory structure, where the European Commission and Member States join forces within a single governing structure, advised by a permanent panel of experts representing the entire European quantum value chain.
• Embrace all quantum technologies, enabling synergies and avoiding unnecessary friction.
• Moving from research to industrial deployment by supporting technology transfer, demonstrators, pilot production and first industrial deployment. Translating research excellence into industrial deployment should be a core objective of the Quantum Act.
• Strengthening Europe’s quantum value chains by reducing critical dependencies and reinforcing Europe’s technological leadership and supply-chain resilience.
• Cross-sectoral strategic alignment with other European initiatives, while retaining the autonomy to steer quantum-specific priorities and investment decisions. Efficient cross-sectoral alignment requires a strong mandate and governance structure.

Read the full QOMPASS position paper.

QOMPASS and the Quantum Flagship are not the only voices in this. QuantERA, QuIC and QCN also prepared position papers, calling for an independent governance with a ring-fenced budget.