Murtra (Telefónica) points out Europe's "gigantic weaknesses" in the face of technological revolutions

BarcelonaThe executive president of Telefónica, Marc Murtra, has pointed out the "gigantic weaknesses" that Europe suffers from in a time of technological revolution. In his speech at the 41st Meeting of the Cercle d'Economia, the leader of the state's leading telco lamented that European administrations "do not have the capacity" to regulate North American technology companies. In the executive's view, the Twenty-Seven suffer from "extremely dangerous vulnerabilities, and which are very real" with respect to the planet's major technological powers. To face them, he calls for "making decisions." "All reports lead down the same path, but now we must execute," he stated.

During his speech, Murtra called for prioritizing growth and economies of scale in European technologies, and in the continent's critical economic sectors as a whole. One of the major problems that the Union suffers from, in his opinion, is that its international competitors have grown at an seemingly unattainable pace. "The value of the five most important US technology companies, 10 years ago, was 8 times that of the entire European telecommunications sector. Now it is 68 times," he analyzed. In this regard, he called on European institutions to "allow companies with potential in the community to grow and consolidate."

In this regard, Murtra has valued the "shift in priorities" shown by the European Commission in terms of regulatory simplification and the removal of obstacles to the growth, organic and inorganic, of the most competitive companies. He pointed out the new merger and acquisition guide from Brussels, which paves the way for cross-border integrations of large EU companies, and represents a "Copernican shift" compared to the previous situation. Nevertheless, he recalled that regulatory cuts always generate "risks" and that European companies will have to learn to live with them. "If we simplify regulations, we will improve overall, but there will also be a series of costs. We must be able to make mistakes," he reasoned.

Faced with this new reality, however, he has shown himself to be optimistic. Although the major global economies have overtaken the EU in most key aspects, the president of Telefónica believes that Europe has all the foundations to grow on its own terms. "We have the GDP, the talent, the engineers, the companies, and the institutions to grow," he listed. Thus, he urged European institutions to carry out a "concerted action" in favor of strategic companies, as has happened in the United States – with the Department of Defense's investments in data centers for AI – or in China, where Huawei has a virtual monopoly on the mobile connection antenna network.

A "good market" is needed"

Accompanying Murtra, Antoine Bordes, the scientific director of the German technology company Helsing, which develops military-use drones as well as the software that makes them work, spoke at the session. Bordes has called for mobilizing European capital to finance the growth of companies in critical sectors. To guarantee it, however, administrations and large companies will have to entrust their commercial activity to them. "You can raise a Series A or B round with an idea, but you don't get investment to grow without contracts and a market," he observed.

In this sense, he recalled that the ability of European companies to scale is intimately linked to the size and activity of their local market. Furthermore, in a "dynamic" sector such as dual-use and defense, companies must grow while accelerating. "The drones we are developing now are different from those we made last year, and we have to scale while building the drone that will be bought next year," he concluded.