(Bloomberg) -- Ericsson AB’s head urged European politicians to cut red tape in the technology and telecommunications sectors to avoid a widening gap with the US that he said will likely get worse under incoming US President Donald Trump.
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Europe is on track to add new regulations, while the US appears poised to liberalize, Ericsson’s Chief Executive Officer Börje Ekholm said Thursday at a press event in Brussels. “So that delta is highly likely to increase, unless we’re very careful.”
Ekholm joined rival Nokia Oyj CEO Pekka Lundmark and the heads of German software giant SAP SE and Dutch semiconductor equipment provider ASML Holding NV at the event, where they highlighted how Europe’s tech and telecom sectors are falling behind. Only four of the world’s top 50 tech companies are based in the European Union, according to the European Commission.
Europe’s telecom operators say they are unable to invest enough in 5G equipment in a market that’s more crowded and regulated than the US or China. Meanwhile tech startup founders and investors have said that EU rules about data privacy and artificial intelligence hinder business, according to a survey by venture capital firm Atomico.
The movement to drive innovation by reducing bureaucracy is gaining some momentum in the EU. Former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi last year published a sweeping report that focused on how to maintain competitiveness on the continent with more investment and policy reform.
Many US tech giants and investors have welcomed Trump’s second presidency, expecting the incoming leader to take a less interventionist approach to the industry than current President Joe Biden. In a farewell address on Wednesday, Biden warned of an ultra-wealthy “oligarchy” and a “tech-industrial complex” taking shape in America in a threat to democracy.
Trump, in contrast, has put X owner Elon Musk in charge of a new initiative to cut government bureaucracy and red tape. Silicon Valley investors and tech leaders have flocked to Mar-a-Lago to court advisory roles in his government.
Lundmark listed all the new regulations in Europe, from taxonomy to intellectual property rules, many of which he said are uncoordinated and sometimes conflict with one another.