Tech

Euro area faces ‘competitive crisis’ in technology, senior ECB executive says

Isabel Schnabel said the ECB had undertaken an independent review of the recovery and resilience facility, which had allocated €914 million to Ireland

Isabel Schnabel, a member of the ECB executive board, said many euro area firms were ‘laggards’ when it comes to technology. Picture: Louie Carroll

The euro area is falling behind global competitors when it comes to technology and faces a “competitive crisis,” a member of the European Central Bank (ECB) said on Friday.

In a speech in Florence, Isabel Schnabel, member of the ECB executive board, said “at the turn of the millennium, Europe was operating at the global technological frontier, but today many euro area firms are laggards”.

“Compared with many of their global peers, they invest less ...