The European Quantum Industry Consortium (QuIC) asked the European Commission on October 15, 2026, to make licensing under the EU’s quantum export controls faster and more consistent across the 27 member states. QuIC set out its requests in a position paper, published as input to the Commission’s evaluation of the EU Dual-Use Regulation, on the day the public consultation closed.
Founded in 2021, QuIC is a non-profit association of companies, investors, research organizations, and universities. The consortium said it supports targeted controls on sensitive quantum items and is not asking for new obligations on exporters. It said member states apply the rules inconsistently and that exporters face long and unpredictable lead times, duplicated classification work, and legal uncertainty.
QuIC gave no figures on how long licensing takes in any member state. In one of its recommendations, it asked the Commission to publish those figures for each member state and type of authorization.
The rules in question
The EU regulates exports of goods, software, and technology with both civilian and military uses under Regulation (EU) 2021/821. The regulation requires the Commission to evaluate it between September 10, 2026, and September 10, 2028, and to report its findings to the European Parliament, the Council, and the European Economic and Social Committee.
Quantum computers that meet the control list’s technical thresholds have been controlled at EU level since November 15, 2025, when Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/2003 took effect. The Commission said it had also added cryogenic cooling systems, parametric signal amplifiers, cryogenic wafer probers, and electronic components designed for cryogenic temperatures to the control list in the same update. Several member states, including the Netherlands, had imposed national quantum export controls earlier.
What QuIC wants changed
QuIC asked the Commission and member states to introduce interoperable electronic licensing in every member state, to notify one another of approvals as they already do for denials, and to recognize one another’s classification decisions. It asked that the Emerging Technology Expert Group of the EU’s Dual-Use Coordination Group issue non-binding classification opinions on quantum items within 30 days. That is the only time limit in QuIC’s recommendations.
The consortium asked the Commission to extend EU001 to South Korea and then to other economies with equivalent control regimes. EU001 is the general authorization under which exporters can ship most controlled items to nine allied destinations without an individual license. Finland has allowed eligible exports to South Korea under a national general authorization since May 2026.
For quantum key distribution (QKD), QuIC said EU008, the general authorization for encryption items, excludes quantum cryptography. As a result, exporters of QKD systems need individual or national licenses even where comparable conventional encryption products ship under EU008, QuIC said. It asked for EU008 to be extended or for a dedicated general authorization.
QuIC also asked for a “safe harbour for remote operation and maintenance,” under which monitoring, calibration, and software updates for lawfully exported systems would not count as a new controlled transfer, provided no controlled development or production technology is passed on. It asked the Commission to distinguish submitting jobs to a quantum computer and receiving results from accessing controlled software or technical know-how.
Members’ reports
QuIC said some members had lost customers because of shipment delays and that European quantum companies were losing revenue and paying “extremely high” legal fees. Members also reported that customs officers often lacked the technical means to verify a classification and returned the file to the exporter, adding weeks to a shipment. QuIC did not say how many members reported these problems or which member states and destinations were involved.
The paper’s 13 contributors were led by David Morcuende of QuIC and Ulrich Mans of QuantWare, a Dutch maker of superconducting quantum processors. The others work at QURECA, IDEADED, Pasqal, planqc, Indra Group, Qilimanjaro Quantum Tech, Qblox, Falqon Systems, IQM Quantum Computers, Bluefors, and QuIC.
The Commission has until September 2028 to complete its evaluation. QuIC said export-control friction bears directly on the goals of the EU Quantum Act, which the Commission has yet to propose, and called for coherence between EU trade and industrial policy.
