Will the EU fall behind the latest technology's by the need to regulate?

[Anonymous]

The EU seemingly is having a identity crisis with great strain and internal dispute. A long underlying issue is EU companies do not compete among the leaders in large companies.

Most of the EU "green plans" have had huge investment and little achievement, not to mention where the parts in all these vast components come from (Africa and China mostly).

We've seen them fall behind AI in the latest new tech wave focusing on regulation when they themselves haven't been able to grab any future tech market share and with the pollution of countries like India and China, it seems the EU is running the wrong race in my opinion especially when a Trump presidency could put more strains on their US relations.

What do you think? Am I wrong or off track here?

[Astarlessnightsky]

EU is difficult as its many different countries.

In germany companies face issues with infrastructure and buerocracy.

None of them is complaining about the green energy and environmental protection laws.

They are complaining about 1980s copper cable for internet, year long waiting times until something is accepted by all sorts of federal offices.

And offcourse backwards conservative governments for the last 30 years, who are not understanding the modern technology and instead pushing and funding outdated stuff. (or not funding anything at all)

[Astarlessnightsky]

For example germany was once the world leading country for solar panels, but its been neglected by the government, and so companies have gone bankcrupt as china is pushing for renewable energy.

[Asker]

Interesting as you only pointed out Germany (assuming you're German or have family there) Germany is among the best/leaders in most economic indicators in recent history for the EU.

It makes me wonder how further behind countries like Greece Spain and Italy are. Not to even get into their separate societal issues, that's just an issue of EU in general, countries are different and in vastly different places.

Most of the components for solar are mined and built in China. The amount of resources needed for the actual shifts the eu plans pins a lot of reliability on China. An interesting strategy for a body who was recently burned by their over reliance on Russian energy now. That's what I more so meant, not that it's complaining, the plans have been laid out and written for awhile now but each country has wildly different energy situations with an overall shift towards more and more Chinese reliance.

Overall for the EU and no strictly Germany how would you view it's outlook compared to other leaders on the world stage?

[DryGermanGuy]

Germany did not „neglect“ its solar industry, they were destroyed by illegal Chinese subsidies, so that their companies could flood the market. The Chinese general way of business is to play dirty.

[Cubus]

Yes. None of the Europe's 10 biggest companies were created in last 50 years, while in USA half of 10 biggest companies were created in last 50 years, including Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, NVidia, Apple and Tesla.

[Asker]

Part of that goes to taxes alone. It's so much harder for a company to grow anywhere near the scale of the ones you listed when the government will actively fight it and tax them at significantly higher rates than the USA.

It also contributes to the idea of old money in Europe because new money has such a high barrier of entry. This is solved for every smart European by bringing their business to the USA instead. That's not even mentioning how complicated selling merch or services is between EU member states.

[Syntosi]

Not entirely sure what the argument is. Green energy is the future so getting ahead on that is pivotal for long term success. Also, regulation can be very good for innovation since it pushes corporations to innovate in the direction that you want so that they can remain competitive.

Kind of just sounds like you want an excuse to look down on Europe and you made up the first excuse that came to your head.

[Asker]

Well there's actually a ton of issues in the EU within it's member states. They're not unified in the slightest.

If a war happens with China and the EU gets over 75% of components for EU renewable from China? It's also unproven at any large scale and China is the country most benefitting short term from the transition in the EU because the EU isn't self sufficient in energy.

Out of the top 10 biggest companies of the world how many are EU? Where's the tech innovation in the EU?

Simply put the EU discourages growth through it's high tax welfare state and many members are self interested and now do things differently as they please since you cannot control sovereign nations. Do countries like Serbia and Hungary align internally with the ideals of France and Germany?

But sure you're right there's 0 issues and everyone loves the system I guess.

[Syntosi]

The EU is not supposed to be unified. Unlike in USA the states in the EU are actually sovereign and independent of each other. Also, China is not an enemy to Europe the same way it is an enemy to USA. For the most part European nations dont care about China because they are on the opposite side of the world and does not have conflicting national interests.

As for green energy? Its been around longer than combustion engines has. We have a pretty good idea about it and its capabilities. The reason we are moving away from fossil fuels and coal is not really because of climate change but rather because the internal combustion engine is a technological dead-end. We have perfected the design and there is no real way to go from here which means that if we want to keep on growing then we require a new method for generating power regardless.

Regarding tech innovations in the EU? There is certainly enough of it. For example, a lot is made out of Taiwan making all those high-end computer chips but the machines that they use to make the chips is sourced from a single company in Europe which is making China very upset by the way.

Its also worth pointing out that some of the most innovative nations on the planet is in Europe. For example:
www.wipo.int/.../gii-2024-results.html

Your assumption that regulation discourages growth and innovation is just not true.

[DrPepper12]

Yeah... Those European companies are for shit. No first to market innovations, no ROI and just stagnant earnings far into the future... I mean 330% over 5 years - you're better off in bonds... 🤔

[Asker]

Ah yes one company. How many of the biggest 10 companies in the world are EU?

Where does over 90% of solar construction and purchase come from?

[DrPepper12]

My point is there are successful companies in EU

[Asker]

No shit. My point is they are old and they rarely innovate.

[Anonymous]

Lol probably.