France and the Netherlands intend to work closely together on Europe's technological development, the countries' respective leaders announced on Wednesday.
The European tech sector must be strengthened, French President Emmanuel Macron and Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten emphasized during a joint visit to the Brainport technology centre in Eindhoven.
They underlined the vital importance of Europe's strategic autonomy in the face of geopolitical changes and international conflicts.
"If Europe wants to stay in the race, it must consolidate production chains within Europe," said Macron. He described Franco-Dutch cooperation as a driving force for innovation, AI, quantum technology and electronics.
"The European Union must itself become a technology giant," said Jetten. Businesses, research, talent and industry must be better connected, he added.
Macron and Jetten were accompanied by representatives from tech companies and also visited ASML, a manufacturer of microchip production machinery.
Last year, the global market leader invested around €1.3 billion ($1.5 billion) in the French AI start-up Mistral AI, thereby becoming its largest shareholder.
Macron was due to travel on to the UK after the visit.
