EU technology-specific industrial policy: The case of 5G and 6G.

The European Commission has recognized early on the disruptive potential of 5G and later 6G. The research considers how 5G and 6G technologies fit within the broader context of the European Union's (EU) industrial policies—specifically “technology-specific” industrial policy. The analysis suggests the EU should pay more attention to: demand-side innovation policies along with standard policies directed at final demand; improving the vertical governance of EU policies so as to fully capture the technological opportunities key technologies open up; and to the explicit consideration of the trade-offs between growth and the pursuit of geopolitical interests behind the concrete implementation of this sort of policies.