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European Commission to launch Chips Act as new drive for strategic autonomy
On Wednesday (15 September), at the annual state of the union address in the European Parliament, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the intention to present a European Chips Act meant to boost Europe’s semiconductor capacity and reinforce its new drive for strategic autonomy.
“The aim is to jointly create a state-of-the-art European chip ecosystem including production and insurance, our security of supply and will develop new markets for ground-breaking European tech,” President Ursula von der Leyen said.
For Thierry Breton, Commissioner for Internal Market, chips “were more than just key components for automakers, smartphone makers and video gamers (…) the race for the most advanced chips is a race about technological and industrial leadership”. The Chips Act is a “strong geopolitical and economic signal” that national efforts will be effectively coordinated at the European level. The initiative is meant to provide a framework that avoids fragmentation of the single market drive by public subsidies at the national level. Europe should consider setting up a "dedicated European Semiconductor Fund."
Last year, U.S. lawmakers proposed pouring tens of billions of dollars into the sector in a bill called the Chips for America Act (H.R. 7178) This bill establishes investments and incentives to support U.S. semiconductor manufacturing, research and development, and supply chain security.
Read more:
Thierry Breton’s blogspot: “The world is short of semiconductors”
President Ursula von der Leyen’ State of the Union 2021
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