Carnicero Urabayen, Carlos

Europe retains strong scientific capabilities, yet structural weaknesses continue to limit its ability to turn research into scalable businesses and global technological leadership. The challenge is not new, but the context is. The US and China are intensifying their technological competition, governments are tightening controls on scientific collaboration, and the AI race is raising the stakes of Europe’s innovation gap. The question is no longer simply how much to invest in research and development, but how to ensure those investments translate into economic impact.

Europe retains strong scientific capabilities, yet structural weaknesses continue to limit its ability to turn research into scalable businesses and global technological leadership. The challenge is not new, but the context is. The US and China are intensifying their technological competition, governments are tightening controls on scientific collaboration, and the AI race is raising the stakes of Europe’s innovation gap. The question is no longer simply how much to invest in research and development, but how to ensure those investments translate into economic impact.

For years, Europe could treat China’s rise as a distant story: impressive, sometimes unsettling, but ultimately manageable through trade, investment and careful diplomacy. That era is giving way to something more complex. In a new episode of Future is Blue, Lourdes Casanova, Gail and Rob Cañizares Director at The Cañizares Center for Emerging Markets, Cornell University, and Raymond Torres, Funcas Europe Director, discuss how China’s economic ascent has matured into a systemic power with formidable industrial scale.