PARIS (Reuters) – French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said a new European technology fund would be officially launched on Tuesday, with a value of around 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion), enabling the European tech sector to compete with U.S and Asian rivals.
Le Maire announced this new fund on Monday as he spoke at an event on France’s digital policy plans, with France having taken over the European Union’s presidency over the next few months.
Le Maire also emphasized the need for the EU to become less dependent on foreign leaders in the tech sector.
This new European tech fund will combine 10 to 20 funds “at a minimum value of one billion euros to finance tech champions”, said Le Maire.
Le Maire also reiterated France’s “absolute” commitment to nuclear energy.
“There is no technological sovereignty without energy sovereignty,” he said.
($1 = 0.8747 euros)
(Reporting by Tassilo Hummel; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)
