Diverging views emerged prominently between Paulina Uznańska and Jana Nagyová on one side, and Ferdinand Gehringer, Nataliya Tkachuk, and others on the other, during the European Parliament ITRE-SEDE joint hearing on 29 January 2026. Uznańska, backed by Nagyová, argued strongly for tighter EU regulation and national restrictions on Chinese intelligent vehicles due to cybersecurity threats, highlighting the need for using regulation as a strategic barrier. Contrastingly, Gehringer and Tkachuk focused more on systemic civil–military integration and operational coordination, cautioning against over-dependency on non-European technologies but emphasizing resilience and whole-of-society coordination over restrictive bans.
The hearing, held by the Committees on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) and Security and Defence (SEDE), covered both cybersecurity challenges—including hybrid threats from Russia and Chinese technologies—and Europe's ambitions in nuclear fusion energy as a long-term energy strategy.
Uznańska made detailed proposals to include intelligent vehicles within the EU Cybersecurity Act and advocated a national-level approach combined with EU-wide standards. She also called for market conditions favoring EU-produced equipment in critical infrastructure to counter Chinese dominance. Meanwhile, Gehringer suggested diversification of cloud infrastructure away from American providers with fallback mechanisms and the EU serving as an anchor customer, favoring systemic integration rather than exclusion policies. Tkachuk urged full integration of Ukraine into EU cybersecurity structures to bolster resilience against ongoing Russian cyber threats.
Regarding cyber defense capabilities, Wouter Beke and Tkachuk supported developing offensive EU cyber tools under legal supervision to enable deterrence, while others like Gehringer preferred focusing on resilience and rapid attribution rather than offensive measures.
Funding and support for SMEs was a shared concern, with Iva Tascheva pointing out bureaucratic hurdles and poor reimbursement rates limiting SME participation in cybersecurity programs, while Tagliaretti presented ongoing improvements like regional hubs and updated funding programs. Krzysztof Hetman warned against overregulation potentially excluding SMEs.
On fusion energy, Hildegard Bentele presented fusion as a strategic geopolitical opportunity requiring milestone-based funding, industrial scale-up, and adaptive regulation. However, Greens and S&D members, such as Jutta Paulus and Annalisa Corrado, expressed skepticism about fusion detracting from near-term decarbonization efforts and questioned its realism. Jan Panek emphasized fusion's strategic importance beyond 2030, underscoring ongoing ITER progress and Europe’s leadership underlined by Marc Lachaise.
The policy debates highlighted cleavages between increasing EU powers via coordinated cyber regulations versus protecting national sovereignty with selective restrictions, and between envisioning fusion as a future industrial strategy versus maintaining focus on current renewable energy priorities.
Stakeholders impacted span European regulatory bodies tasked with harmonizing cybersecurity frameworks, EU producers encouraged by protective equipment policies, SMEs concerned by funding and regulatory burdens, and EU consumers facing the trade-off between technology security and market openness.
Follow-up actions may include detailed legislative work to integrate intelligent vehicles in cybersecurity frameworks, enhanced EU coordination on cyber defense capabilities including Ukraine’s role, and renewed anchoring of fusion energy strategy within EU research and industrial policy, balancing innovation with realism on timelines and budgetary priorities.