The European Commission has decided to exclude research entities with significant ties to China from grants in sensitive technology areas of the Horizon Europe program. This measure affects fields such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and quantum computing, citing security concerns and the risk of dual military use. However, collaboration continues in areas like climate or agriculture.
The Impact on the Development of Strategic Technologies ⚙️
The restriction focuses on projects from the Pillar 2 of Horizon Europe, dedicated to global challenges and industrial competitiveness. Applicants with Chinese ties must now demonstrate the independence of their research and guarantees against unwanted technology transfer. This aims to protect advances in microelectronics, where Europe is heavily investing, and in dual-use AI, where the risk of leakage to foreign military programs is considered high.
Semiconductors for You, Transgenic Rice for Me 🌾
The new policy draws a peculiar boundary: you can collaborate on how to improve rapeseed, but if your computer vision algorithm smells like Beijing, there's no funding. It seems the strategy is clear: we'll share knowledge to save the planet, but the chips and AI secrets stay home. A way of saying that scientific diplomacy now has safe and tourist modes.