Europe risks falling behind in digital innovation, as regulators and governments discourage entrepreneurs and suffocate technology companies with red tape, according to Google’s leading executive on the continent.

Matt Brittin told the Financial Times that EU authorities were sceptical of digital change and a maze of regulations were holding back the continent, leaving it lagging behind the US and in danger of being overtaken by China.

Officials in Brussels were mainly “good people that are trying to inform themselves about the world, and maybe could be better informed than they are”, he said.

“There are some places in Europe and some interests in Europe where the first inclination is to protect the past from the future.

“There is an educational job to do there. We and others have a lot to do,” he added.

Google has found itself under increasing scrutiny from EU authorities in areas including its web search dominance.