What happened Two sweeping regulatory shifts arrived in rapid succession this quarter, and together they are reshaping the operating environment for any European company with Chinese technology in its stack. First, the EU banned Chinese bodies from participating in critical tech programmes, with the restriction effective in 2026. The ban covers artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, semiconductors, and biotechnology. Within Horizon Europe — the EU's €93.5 billion research and innovation programme — Chinese organisations are barred from Health, Civil Security, and Digitalisation clusters entirely. The 'Seven Sons of National Defence' universities are excluded from all Horizon Europe projects without exception. Researchers outside China who want to participate in critical fields must now prove that their partner institutions are not directly owned or controlled by Chinese organisations — a due-diligence requirement that reaches well beyond the obvious cases. Second, the European Commission proposed the Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA) on 4 March…