Europe’s Tech Dependency: Risks and Solutions

Conference Details

Date: 10 December 2025

Time: 13:00

Duration: 1 hour

Location: Brussels, Belgium and Online

Cost: Register online for more information.

Organiser: Bruegel

Conference Website

Conference Description

Europe’s ability to autonomously choose its own social and economic development is increasingly under threat. Foreign powers willing to curb Europe’s self-determination can leverage Europe’s technological dependency, blackmailing the European Commission into slowing its regulatory and enforcement ambitions, to avert retaliation in the supply of critical inputs for the EU economy. In this workshop, we will examine the current state of the issue, starting from concrete case studies, and propose strategies to address it. We will address question such as:

• Is the EU gap research-markets due to structural or contingent reasons?
• What is the role of innovation ecosystems?
• How important is public and private funding?
• What is the role of large corporations and how can they help avoiding regulatory capture?
• Is there a momentum for Europe to be exploited, given the current state of research in the US?