Speaking on the second day of Future Pulse, Dr. Susanne Bieller, Secretary General of the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), laid out a detailed picture of where Europe stands in global robotics, arguing that despite losing ground on raw installation numbers, the continent holds structural advantages that position it well for the next phase of the industry.
Bieller didn’t shy away from the less flattering data first. Globally, robot installations are growing again after seven years of stagnation, but that growth is heavily concentrated in Asia, which now accounts for roughly three-quarters of new installations. Europe’s share, by comparison, is much smaller, and the region actually saw installations decline in the past year, as did the Americas. Asia was the only region still growing.
But Bieller argued that installation counts alone are misleading for comparing regions of very different size. The IFR’s preferred measure, “robot density” (robots per 10,000 manufacturing employees), tells a different story. Europe’s average density sits at 148, ahead of the global average of 122. Fifteen of the top 22 countries in the world by robot density are European, with Germany among the global leaders. China, despite dominating raw installation volume, ranks just 32nd globally on density. For Bieller, this was the clearest evidence that Europe’s manufacturing base is already highly automated, even if it isn’t installing the most new units.
What Europe Is Actually Good At
The heart of Bieller’s talk was a case for Europe’s underlying strengths, which she framed as distinct from, and in some ways more durable than, the AI platform race dominating headlines elsewhere. She pointed first to trust and regulation: Europe’s focus on human centric robotics, safety, and regulatory leadership, she argued, is a genuine asset rather than a constraint. She pointed second to engineering depth, stressing that robotics “is not just about AI, it’s about building reliable hardware,” and that this is where Europe’s traditional industrial base pays off. Her strongest point concerned a third strength, integration capability. Building robots, she said, is only half the challenge; successful deployment requires understanding both the technology and the industrial processes it’s being inserted into. Bieller described this combination of technical and process knowledge as a specifically European strength, developed over decades of industrial engineering experience.
She contrasted this with the two other major poles of the industry. The United States, she said, excels at data driven startups and AI software platforms backed by strong venture capital, but struggles with a “manufacturing gap,” a weakness she suggested will be compounded by new domestic content requirements for U.S. built robots, given that much of the supply chain isn’t yet in place there. China, meanwhile, has scaled humanoid robotics rapidly, but Bieller characterized this as largely government driven ambition following state industrial policy, rather than organic industry demand.
Not One Country, But a Network of Strengths
A recurring theme was that Europe’s advantage isn’t concentrated in a single dominant player. While Germany leads Europe in industrial robot supply, accounting for a significant share of installations and operational stock, concentrated in automotive, metals and plastics, Bieller emphasized that Europe’s real strength lies in having many strong national ecosystems rather than one outsized hub. Looking specifically at robot manufacturers (as opposed to where robots are installed), she noted Europe has a substantial base of suppliers across industrial and service robotics, with several European countries ranking among the world’s top ten supplying nations. This was, she said, a signal that the region’s capacity extends well beyond any single flagship country.
Setting Europe’s Own Agenda
Bieller closed her European analysis by pointing to two recent industry led initiatives aimed at translating these strengths into strategy.
The Vienna Statement, published by robotics industry bodies in June, calls on Europe to define its own robotics agenda, addressing questions of technological sovereignty, where AI should and shouldn’t be used, and how to convert European engineering strength into a genuine market position, while keeping development human centered and societally accountable.
The Barcelona Declaration on Robotics and Automation, by contrast, is a global rather than purely European initiative, co-signed by industry associations from Spain, Germany, North America and the IFR itself. Bieller described it as a broad, adaptable framework, general enough that individual countries and regions are expected to translate its principles into their own concrete strategies. She used the platform to invite more national associations, universities, research centers and companies to formally endorse it, arguing that the declaration’s influence grows with the breadth of its signatories.
Her underlying message throughout was that Europe doesn’t need to imitate the U.S. or China’s playbooks. Instead, success will come from leveraging what already sets the region apart, namely trust, engineering depth, and integration expertise, while coordinating industry, policymakers, and research institutions around a deliberately European strategy.
