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The EU Quantum Act is a forthcoming regulation designed to turn the EU's Quantum Europe Strategy into law by creating a coordinated framework to align research programmes, build European industrial capacity for quantum technologies, and strengthen supply‑chain resilience.
Launched on 29 October 2025, the EU has issued a Call for Evidence to gather practical input to support the Act's impact assessment and to help ensure that the legislative measures which are ultimately implemented are both workable and proportionate.
The EU Quantum Act initiative
The EU Quantum Act initiative is a legislative effort to turn the European Union's Quantum Europe Strategy into binding law. It aims to create a coordinated framework to align research programmes, build European industrial capacity for quantum technologies, and strengthen supply-chain resilience.
The Commission's Quantum Europe Strategy, published in July 2025, aims for Europe to become a global leader in quantum technologies by 2030. It identifies quantum computing, communication, and sensing as transformative technologies with dual-use potential for both civilian and defence applications. That Strategy builds on the European Declaration on Quantum Technologies from December 2023, in which Member States committed to collaborate on a world‑class quantum ecosystem, align programmes, accelerate the transition from lab to market, and deploy quantum infrastructures across the EU.
What is quantum computing (in brief!)?
Quantum computing uses the principles of quantum mechanics to solve problems that are too complex for traditional computers. Unlike traditional bits that represent data as either 0 or 1, quantum computers use 'qubits' which can be both 0 and 1 simultaneously due to a property called superposition. Additionally, qubits can be entangled, meaning the state of one qubit can depend on the state of another, even if they are far apart. These features allow quantum computers to process information in ways that traditional computers cannot, making them potentially much more powerful for certain tasks. Quantum computers are expected to be used for powerful for tasks like simulating complex molecules and materials, and improving large-scale optimisation in sectors such as healthcare, energy, transport and finance.
However, quantum hardware is still early‑stage (akin to semi-conductors several decades ago), and reliable, scalable machines remain a work‑in‑progress. Europe is deploying pilot quantum systems via EuroHPC (the European High-Performance Computing Joint Undertaking). In the UK, the National Quantum Technologies Programme and UK National Quantum Strategy underpin the industry, with companies such as Riverlane, Phasecraft, Orca and Oxford Quantum Circuits among the better-known names. Overall, the global market is small today but forecast to grow substantially over the next 10–15 years.
What will an EU Quantum Act address?
The EU Quantum Act Initiative is structured around three core pillars that mirror the problems the Act aims to tackle:
- Research and innovation - focusing on overcoming duplication and missed synergies, strengthening technology transfer, and ensuring equitable access and skills across regions.
- Industrial Capacity - addressing the shortage of pilot lines, design platforms, and manufacturing capabilities for quantum chips and hardware, shallow late‑stage capital, and weak demand signals that hinder scale‑up.
- Supply‑Chain Resilience - seeking to establish systematic monitoring of critical inputs, IP and talent risks, and to improve governance coherence across national authorities, industry, and EU institutions.
The Call for Evidence explicitly seeks input on policy options under each pillar, ranging from integration of quantum R&I into a single EU framework to dedicated tools for strategic projects and resilience mechanisms such as diversification, stockpiles, standards, and IP protection.
Why a Call for Evidence?
The Call for Evidence seeks targeted feedback on the feasibility, acceptability, and likely impacts of specific policy options. It is intended to achieve several concrete ends:
- It will test the problem diagnosis, notably the fragmentation of research and innovation efforts, the "Made in Europe" industrial capacity gap, and governance gaps that leave supply chains exposed to choke points, technology leakage, and inconsistent treatment under foreign direct investment (FDI) screening and export control regimes.
- It will gather evidence on instruments like strategic projects eligible for combined EU and national financing, coordinated demand in limited dual‑use and space contexts, accelerated permitting for critical facilities, and EU‑level supply‑chain monitoring and resilience frameworks.
- The findings will feed the impact assessment and the drafting of the legislative architecture, ensuring the Act complements existing instruments and adheres to Single Market, competition, and international commitments.
The consultation targets specialists - Member State authorities, EU agencies, infrastructure operators, industry, academia, standards bodies and security experts - because the field is highly technical and pre‑commercial, so meaningful evidence is concentrated among a limited set of expert stakeholders.
Implications for UK businesses
Although the UK is not an EU Member State, the Quantum Act will still matter for UK companies that sell into, partner with, or source from the EU. In practice, the Act is likely to shape EU‑wide standards, certification, and procurement preferences in certain strategic settings (e.g., space and limited dual‑use contexts), and to coordinate investment into EU pilot lines, design platforms, and secure supply chains. UK firms will therefore need to track EU technical standards and conformity requirements, align products and security assurances accordingly, and consider how EU demand‑side tools and "buy European" concepts in narrow areas could affect market access or partnering models.
For supply chains, an EU resilience framework and monitoring of critical inputs may tighten expectations around provenance, IP protection, export controls, and FDI screening across the bloc. UK vendors of enabling technologies (cryogenics, lasers, control electronics, photonics, specialist materials) may find opportunities as EU buyers diversify, but should anticipate stricter due‑diligence, audit, and certification regimes when supplying EU projects and infrastructures.
A quantum future?
The Quantum Act is a once‑in‑a‑decade chance to turn Europe's scientific strength into a globally competitive quantum industry, with clearer rules, coordinated investment, and more resilient supply chains. If designed well, it can set EU‑wide standards, accelerate pilot‑to‑production through EuroHPC integration and create early markets through targeted procurement, theoretically shortening time‑to‑market and anchoring talent and IP in Europe. For businesses, this is not abstract policy: it will shape certification, interoperability, security expectations (including quantum‑safe transitions), eligibility for funding, and access to shared testbeds and design platforms that de‑risk adoption and scale‑up.
The Call for Evidence is significant as it allows experts to influence key issues, such as the prioritisation of strategic projects, the implementation of 'Made in Europe' tools, and the use of supply-chain monitoring to address industry choke points.
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