Just eight European quantum computers?
When the EU says it is building eight quantum computers, the number sounds precise. It isn’t. This piece explores why that question is harder than it looks.
I am new to quantum computing. That is worth stating upfront, because this piece grows out of uncertainty rather than expertise.
The trigger was a short message from the European Commission claiming that the EU is building eight quantum computers. It sounded clear and ambitious. But the more I thought about it, the less clear it became. What does it mean, exactly, for “the EU” to build a quantum computer? And how does that relate to what I thought I knew about places like Delft, which I associated with serious quantum research?
This article is an attempt to sort out that confusion. Not to resolve it fully, but to put some structure around it.
⚡️Quantum computers can perform calculations radically faster than classical computers.
— Digital EU 🇪🇺 (@DigitalEU) January 14, 2026
Do you know that the EU is building 8 of them?
Practical applications include FinTech, cybersecurity, transport management, meteorology, earth observation & more!
➡️https://t.co/0O1gq0m6hV pic.twitter.com/I8yrq4TNcO
What is actually being talked about?
After some digging, it became clear that the message refers to quantum computers developed within the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking.
EuroHPC Joint Undertaking is a European programme focused on high-performance computing (HPC), meaning large-scale, high-capacity computing infrastructure such as supercomputers that perform many calculations in parallel. Its core mission is to fund and coordinate these systems so they can be accessed by researchers across Europe. Quantum computing has been added to that portfolio in recent years.
So when EuroHPC lists “its” quantum computers, it is not making a general claim about quantum computing in Europe. It is describing a specific set of machines that are:
- co-funded at EU level
- hosted by selected national centres
- intended as shared research infrastructure
That scope is narrower than the original message suggests, but also more concrete.
EuroHPC Joint Undertaking is structured as a Joint Undertaking. This is a formal EU governance model used when the European Union and its Member States jointly develop and operate large, strategic programmes. A Joint Undertaking has its own legal identity and shared governance, allowing long-term coordination and pooled investment in areas that are too capital-intensive or strategically sensitive for individual countries to manage alone. In the case of EuroHPC, this structure underlines that high-performance computing is treated as a shared European capability rather than a standalone research initiative.
A first realisation: infrastructure is a category of its own
This distinction led me to a more general realisation.
Quantum computing seems to exist on multiple levels at once. There is the level of infrastructure, where the goal is access, coordination, and capacity building. And there is the level of research, where the goal is understanding, experimentation, and long-term progress.
The machines funded through EuroHPC belong clearly to the first category. They are not meant to represent the cutting edge of quantum science. They are meant to make quantum computing available as a shared resource, much like supercomputers are today.
That does not make them less important. It just places them in a specific role.
Looking at the Netherlands from that angle
From a Dutch perspective, this helped explain something that initially puzzled me.
The Netherlands does not immediately appear in some of these EuroHPC overviews, yet it is often mentioned in discussions about advanced quantum research. Especially Delft.
Institutes such as QuTech, closely connected to TU Delft and TNO, work on fundamental aspects of quantum computing: qubit technologies, quantum networks, error correction.
These are not infrastructure machines designed for broad access. They are research systems, often experimental, sometimes fragile, and deeply specialised. From what I can tell so far, they live largely outside the EuroHPC framing, even though they may be scientifically more advanced than some infrastructure systems.
Two layers, loosely connected
At this point, my working picture looks something like this:
- European programmes such as EuroHPC focus on shared infrastructure and coordination.
- Universities and research institutes focus on knowledge creation and experimentation.
- The two are related, but not interchangeable.
Confusion seems to arise when these layers are collapsed into a single story about “having” quantum computers.
Where this leaves me, for now
I am deliberately stopping short of conclusions.
What I take away at this stage is mainly a habit of asking better questions. When I read that “Europe is building quantum computers”, I now pause and ask: in what sense? Infrastructure, research, capability, or aspiration?
For now, that distinction is enough. This piece is not a statement of understanding, but a marker of where my understanding currently begins.
